Mass Effect 1. 1: Reunion

February 14th, 2186 CE The Citadel

It had been a tough year for Jane Shepard. Hell, it had been four tough years now since the mission on Eden Prime that had kicked off this whole Reaper madness, even if she'd been out cold for just over two of them. And right now she wasn't sure if what she had done had made that much of a difference in the end. Was she really stopping The Reapers, or merely delaying the inevitable? She'd stopped Sovereign and put The Collectors out of commission, and ever since then she had been searching for any leads she could to keep The Reapers at bay. Liara was now The Shadow Broker, but information was scarce, and The Illusive Man was keeping pretty damn quiet after she flipped him off and took the Normandy for herself. Most of her old crew had gone their separate ways now, though she still had Joker and EDI. And just a few days ago, she'd destroyed a mass relay and killed more than 300,000 batarians. And even then, she wasn't quite sure if she'd stopped The Reapers at all, or even if she'd somehow played into their hands.

All in all, there wasn't much for Jane to smile about lately, as she sat sipping on a drink in a quiet bar alone. She wished that Garrus, Tali or even Zaeed hadn't left so she could at least have somebody to talk to. The last time she'd managed to get anything off her chest to anybody was when she invited Liara aboard the Normandy for a drink, and her azure-skinned lover finally asked her the simple question she was both wanting and dreading to answer for what seemed like years: "how are you?"

Jane managed to crack a small smile as she thought of that last time she'd spent with Liara. She wasn't quite sure where they stood right now. There had been an almost instant connection between the two of them when she'd found her on Therum, but then Liara had changed so much in the two years since the original Normandy was attacked, and while they'd grown closer again after the whole Shadow Broker debacle, she knew that while Liara loved her there were doubts still present, and she had to admit she had them too. Liara made her feel special and loved in a way only one other person had in Jane's life, and despite the feelings that were still lingering for that other person, Jane knew that she had to move on and not look back. Liara was her future, but she still had to make sure there was a future to have.

Jane drained the last of the liquor from her glass, unaware that one of the two people she was just thinking about was about to come back into her life far sooner than she was expecting. Giving the bartender a final wave and nod goodbye, Jane switched on her communicator and patched into the Normandy's bridge. "Y'there, Joker?" she asked casually.

"Roger, Commander," Joker answered cheerfully. "Just sitting here as usual. I'd have kept myself busy doing some system checks or something, but EDI has sucked any possible reasons for me to do anything here away from me. I think she's purposefully trying to bore me to tears and make me feel useless."

"Diagnostics and ship's functions are my department, Jeff," EDI synthetic voice responded through both the Normandy bridge and Shepard's earpiece. "Perhaps you could spend more time doing things I cannot, such as consuming more than your share of the Normandy's food supplies?"

"Hey, my disease means I have to consume a lot more food than the average human," Joker defended. "Also, most of the crew have left since we hit the Collector base and Rupert still gets the same amount of supplies every time we port in. I'm just stopping it from going off."

Shepard cleared her throat loudly into her microphone, albeit with her lips twisted into a smirk.

"Sorry, Commander," Joker apologized. "How can I help?"

"Just wanted to let you know I'm on my way back to the ship. I'm thinking of leaving The Citadel in about twelve hours, so if you could notify any crew on the station so they can finish up whatever they're doing and return to the ship, that'd be great."

"Aye aye, Commander."

"Shepard, wait!" EDI's voice stated suddenly. "Something has come to my attention that may interest you."

"Go ahead, EDI."

"External sensors fixed towards the docking bay have picked up an Alliance officer approaching the ship. Given your recent destruction of the Bahak System and Admiral Hackett's warnings about a likely forthcoming court martial, I thought you would like it brought to your attention."

"Thank you, EDI," Shepard answered. "On my way."

Jane double-timed to the docking area, wondering who it could be that was looking for her. Surely she wasn't already being called back to trial so soon? Even so, Admiral Hackett would likely be the first to get hold of her. Turning the final corner, she only made another couple of steps before halting suddenly. The Alliance officer was a Captain, and speaking with one of the Normandy's ex-Cerberus security personnel in front of the docking clamps. If the shoulder-length brown hair and the way the uniform fit the person wasn't a dead giveaway to Jane, the voice near-on demanding to let her inside was. Shepard exhaled, steeled herself, and resumed walking towards her ship. The Captain stopped mid-sentence, then turned around with a warm smile on her face. "Hello, honey. Miss me?"

And there she stood, leaving Jane not knowing whether to salute or hug her. Jane's mother, Captain Hannah Shepard.

"Mom? What are you doing here?"

Jane's mother frowned at her daughter's comment. "Well, that's a fine greeting considering we haven't seen each other for about three years now. I thought you'd be happy to see me."

"I am, Mom. It's just... there's a lot on my plate lately," Jane said, followed by a heavy sigh. "I wanted to come and see you, but I wanted to make sure things were dealt with first."

"A lot on your plate is an understatement," Hannah said with raised eyebrows. "I heard about those batarians and the relay going up. Admiral Hackett contacted me after it happened. He told me that if I wanted to see my daughter as a proud Alliance Officer still, it'd better be sooner rather than later."

"So you tracked me down?"

"I was going to," Hannah said, one side of her mouth twisted into a smirk. "The fact is, you actually found me. The Orizaba was already docked in before you arrived. I'm surprised you didn't see it out there when you came in. When I heard The Normandy had come in, I just had to take the chance to catch up with my special girl again."

When her mother smiled at her after that sentence, Jane couldn't help but return the expression. "I suppose you'll want the grand tour then?" she asked Hannah almost casually.

"Very much so," Hannah said. "I've always wanted to see the famous Normandy I'd heard so much about. Even if I hadn't heard it from you."

Shepard told her security man to stand down and let them through, leading the way into the SR2 Normandy. As promised, she gave her mother the grand tour throughout the ship, introducing her to Joker, Rupert, Kenneth, Gabby and almost everybody else that was still aboard and not still off-ship. Hannah seemed both impressed and critical of the ship, with the latter mostly stemming from what she thought to be a lot of wasted space and inefficient design for a military vessel. The term "cruise ship" often came up in many a conversation. Eventually, Jane finished the tour with her quarters, which immediately elicited an impressed whistle from the elder Shepard.

"Well, well. This is a swanky and spacious den you have yourself here," Hannah remarked. "I think the fish tank alone is bigger than my quarters on the Orizaba."

"It seems Cerberus believes in creature comforts as much as practicality," Shepard responded with a hint of derision. She took a seat at her table. "Not what I would have done, but I can't look a gift horse in the mouth."

"I'd say it would weigh a little more on the side of creature comforts," Hannah said, running an index finger over Jane's model of the Destiny Ascension. "A place for model ships of all things. A lot of them too."

"I became a bit of a fanatic," Jane blushed. "Might as well get some enjoyment out of something when you're on a suicide mission."

"Admiral Hackett mentioned that too," Hannah said, the tone of her voice suddenly less cheery. "Though he was pretty vague about the details. I remember being ecstatic when I heard you were alive again, but when I heard the rumors of you joining Cerberus, I didn't know how to feel."

Hannah joined Jane at the table and the younger Shepard looked into her mother's eyes to gauge her mood. She thought there was going to be anger or at the very least disappointment, but if anything Hannah looked reassuring, and perhaps a bit confused.

"I got your message," Jane said. "I'm sorry I didn't send something back through a secure channel like you suggested. I just wanted to see you in-person instead of just sending off an impersonal email. But beyond the odd visit to The Citadel, I've been mostly restricted to the Terminus Systems lately."

"Working for Cerberus?" Hannah asked.

"No," Jane said with a frown, and she got up from the table. "Not at all. I never worked for them, just with them. I wasn't part of them, I was just using their resources in what was a very uneasy and temporary alliance. They were the only ones willing to do what was necessary to stop The Collectors from attacking human colonies."

Jane was pacing back and forth as she spoke, and she filled Hannah in on the main events over the past year. She was happy that her mother was listening without seeming judgmental, and whenever Hannah asked her a question there was no hint of suspicion, doubt or accusation in there. Her mother trusted her, and it felt good to get some of this stuff off her chest to somebody in an Alliance uniform without feeling like she was on trial. After the whole thing, Jane felt drained, yet satisfied.

"No wonder you look so stressed," Hannah commented. "Good, but stressed."

"Good nothing," Jane said, shaking her head. "They say you're as old as you feel, and if that's true then I feel close to eighty. If anybody looks good, it's you, Mom. You're, what, coming up on fifty?"

"Yep. Just over three months away."

"Yeah, well you don't look a day over thirty-five," Jane said.

Jane may have sounded almost sarcastic, but she wasn't wrong. Hannah Shepard was 49 years old, but thanks to a healthy military lifestyle and an extended lifespan for humans over recent years, she looked closer to her mid 30's. Hannah had been born in 2136, and had given birth to Shepard only a month before her 19th birthday. Hannah and Jane's father had known each other in high school and joined the Alliance Military at the same time, which landed them in the same recruit training group. When Hannah got pregnant she married Shepard, and barely took any time off from her Alliance training while she was expecting. While Jane's own red hair was inherited from her father, she got her mother's bright green eyes and most of her facial features. After Jane's profile grew to near celebrity status after the Skyllian Blitz, if she and Hannah were ever seen together they were more often mistaken for sisters rather than mother and daughter.

That wasn't the only thing that had changed between the two of them since those events though. A fact Jane was soon to be reminded of. She had been able to push it to the back of her mind during her mother's visit that day, but it was not to last.

"You just need to relax, honey," Hannah said. The older Shepard got to her feet and walked over to her daughter, placing her hands upon Jane's shoulders. "You've been through a lot, but you're strong. You always were, and always will be."

"Thanks, Mom," Jane said, a tear coming to her eye. "You listening to me made me feel a lot better. I appreciate it. I'm glad you came to visit."

"Me too, honey," Hannah soothed, pulling her daughter into a warm embrace. "I've missed you so much. It's been too long."

"I've missed you too," Jane sighed contentedly, melting into her mother's comforting hug.

The two Shepard's stood there in each other's arms for almost a minute, then gently separated and looked at each other from arm's length. They smiled as they looked into each other's eyes, and after a few moments Jane saw the look in her mother's deep emerald eyes change, and the smile replaced by a slight opening of her lips. The gaze that was once loving warmth from a mother for her daughter shifted to an intense heat more suited to a gaze one lover would give another, and Jane noticed her mother's cheeks redden and her face growing ever closer.

"No!" Jane said sharply.

Jane raised one hand swiftly to block her mother's encroaching face, finding Hannah's bottom lip making brief contact with her fingertips before the elder Shepard stopped. At the same time, Jane had closed her eyes and was shaking her head slightly.

"I thought we'd been over this, Mom," Jane said sternly. "We can't do that any more. Not since Elysium and the N7 program. Even before then it was wrong. We were already lucky enough that nobody found out back when I was a nobody, let alone now."

Jane opened her eyes and stared seriously at her mother sideways. Hannah looked hurt, but a few seconds of Shepard's stubborn glare was enough to make her shake it off and nod.

"I'm... I'm sorry, honey," Hannah said, taking a step backwards. "I wasn't thinking. I just thought... I thought you may have needed something right now, with all that's been happening to you."

"I have somebody, Mom," Jane said in a voice that told her mother she was disappointed yet understanding. "Remember, I told you about her."

"Yes. The asari woman. Liara, isn't it?" Hannah said. "And where is she right now?"

"She's... She's busy right now. I can't say more than that."

"So she's not even here for you when you need her most?" Hannah answered.

"She has been, when she can be," Jane said in Liara's defense. "In fact, she was the only one who had really asked me how I felt after the trip through the Omega Four relay. In a lot of ways, she reminds me of you. She's strong, determined, wise and beautiful. You two should meet, I think you'd like her."

"Well then. I hope you bring each other happiness," Hannah said.

She didn't sound genuine despite trying to feign it, and Jane noticed this. This was followed by a long, awkward silence between the Shepard's, broken by Hannah as she backed towards the door. "Well, I should probably get going and check in with my crew. Will you be docked here long?"

"Five or six hours," Jane answered. "I can make it more if you'd like."

"Tell you what, in about four hours I'll be having my lunch aboard the Orizaba. Why don't you come over about half an hour early and I'll give you a tour of my ship, and then you can join me?" Hannah suggested.

"Thanks. That would be nice," Jane said with a smile.

"Alright. See you then."

Jane Shepard again found herself standing alone in her quarters, and it was like she'd shed one weight on her shoulders for another one. Memories began to flood back, ones she'd tried to keep at bay for years now. Not because they were bad, but because they were good. Very good. But it was because of that she had to repress them, because they were memories of when she and her mother were closer than they ever had been. Closer than they should have ever been.

Shepard let out a sigh and traipsed towards her personal bathroom, activating the cold water tap. She splashed some water on her face, then looked into the mirror at her own reflection. She didn't look quite as old as she felt after all. In fact, her reflection reminded her of her own mother's face, all those years ago when it first began. The memories flooded back again, back to when the first boundaries were broken that caused Hannah and Jane Shepard to me more than just mother and daughter. 


	2. 2: Feelings Dawn

October 13th, 2170 CE Arcturus Station

It had been a good week for Jane Shepard. She'd had time off from school to spend on the station, and her mother's ship, the SSV Einstein, had been docked for half of that time, allowing the two Shepard women to spend some time together. The SSV Einstein was one of the ships that had responded to the recent batarian raid on Mindoir, and after many of its crew had been subjected to the atrocities there the ship was allowed to dock in more often for regular shore leave. It was apparently the Alliance's way of trying to keep up morale and not overstress its people. Jane was happy to hear that her mother was spared the horror of getting involved directly in the events, but she could tell seeing what it had done to some of her closest friends had still affected her in the wake of it. Her mother never really spoke of it any more, and it had been months ago, so she seemed back to her old self for the most part. At the age of 16 now, Jane herself was about one and a half years away of reaching the goal she was most gunning for: joining the Alliance military.

Jane walked confidently down one of the station's corridors, a clean white towel draped over her shoulders and a gym bag in one hand. With athletic shoes on her feet, some plain gray track pants and a loose white tank top, Jane was doing something few other teenagers her age did on their time off from school: hitting the gym. It was no surprise when she walked in to see her mother already present, walking on a treadmill. From the look of it Hannah Shepard had been there a little while already. The two of them had come there each afternoon for the past couple of days, working out for an hour or two and catching up at the same time.

"Hey, honey," the elder Shepard greeted her daughter. "A little later today than usual."

"Sorry, Mom," Jane said, "I caught up with a friend of mine on the way here. I didn't know they were on-station too."

Jane tossed her gym bag on a bench across from where her mother was running on a treadmill, then flicked the towel on top of it casually. Jane wandered over to a treadmill beside her mother's one, not noticing the smirk on her mother's face. As Jane mounted the gym equipment, Hannah spoke up. "Anybody special?"

"Nope. Just a friend from school," Jane answered casually. "I don't think you've met them."

"A friend by choice, or because you haven't tried for more?"

"Moooom!" Jane whined. "Stop doing that! Not every person I mention that I've befriended in high school is going to be Jane Shepard's future husband."

"I'm just teasing, honey," Hannah said, clearly getting a kick out of frustrating her daughter. "I just want to make sure you're not being reckless. You're at that age where your hormones can override your common sense."

Jane's machine whirred to life and she began jogging upon it. The pace was a bit slow for her taste, so she tapped it up a few notches before turning back to her mother with a smirk. "Me? Reckless? When have I ever been reckless?"

Hannah laughed. "When haven't you been?"

"Mooom!"

"Okay, you're not reckless," Hannah admitted. "But you do tend to throw yourself into things and push yourself too hard. With almost everything. Even now in fact. Are you sure that treadmill isn't going just a little too fast for you? It's at almost twice my speed."

"It's fine, mom. I can handle this level easily." Jane paused. "Besides, I can't be the best Alliance soldier if I hold back."

"All I'm saying is, I just don't want to see you with a big belly full of baby before your next birthday or something."

"Jeez, Mom! What type of girl do you think I am?" Jane said, half-shocked, half mocking.

"I don't mean that, honey," Hannah answered honestly. "I just mean that it's easy for one to do something silly when their brain isn't the one with the loudest voice. And don't push yourself too far, that's all I'm saying. You're a tough girl, but you're also human." Hannah let that settle before adding something else. "Besides, you're pretty fit as it is. You don't want to go from chasing off boys to beating them up."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jane said, one raised eyebrow. She cranked the speed up a little more on her treadmill.

"That if you keep up at this pace, you'll lose your femininity and be more muscle than woman," Hannah joked. "You don't want that."

"I want to be strong and fit, not a bodybuilder."

"Good to know," Hannah said with a smile.

"As for getting knocked-up, trust me, Mom," Jane said with conviction, "there's pretty much no chance of that happening."

"Too dedicated to becoming the best humanity has to offer to get involved with somebody else, is it?" Hannah queried. "A career military woman married to the Alliance."

"There's a bit of that," Jane said, her tone growing a little more serious. "And other stuff. Personal stuff."

"Personal stuff you can't tell your mother?"

Jane sighed, a slight shake of her head. She turned her head to look at her mother, who had that look in her eyes that said, "if there's some problem you have that you're too embarrassed to tell me about, it doesn't matter and I'll love you no matter what it is." Jane looked around the room, which wasn't an overly big gymnasium, but still not tiny either. In either case, she and her mother were the only ones using it right now.

"I guess I should probably tell you, in case I do find myself involved with somebody suddenly," Jane said reluctantly. "I wouldn't want to shock you too suddenly."

"Go ahead, honey," Hannah said, rather calmly, yet Jane could hear the slight waver in her mother's voice. Like she was dreading what was to come.

"I might as well come out and say it," Jane said, getting that determined look on her face her mother knew all too well. "I don't like guys, Mom. I'm not attracted to them. They don't interest me. I like... girls... Mom."

Jane noticed her mother's eyebrows rise up at this, and Hannah looked down and let out a loud sigh. At first Jane thought her mother was gravely disappointed, but then Hannah swung her head back and looked up at the ceiling with a smile.

"Thank God!" she declared, surprising Jane to no end. "I was really worried there for a moment. I thought you were going to say that you were into some weird fetish or something. Or that you were becoming a nun."

"So... you're okay with this?" Jane asked, brow furrowed and with an expression that suggested she was questioning whether the woman beside her was her mother at all. "We're cool?"

"Oh, honey," Hannah said, gazing at her daughter with eyes of care and understanding. "Of course we are. You're free to be whoever you want to be, and love whoever you want to love. You're my daughter and I love you, and you being a lesbian isn't going to change that."

"What about Dad?" Jane asked.

Hannah's smile faltered, and this time her brow twisted. "Now that I'm not so sure about. Oh, don't be worried, honey! He won't disown you or shun you or anything. He just might take some time to adjust, but he won't stop loving you either. You're his pride and joy. He was probably hoping to get some true-blue Alliance son-in-law or some such, and possibly some grandchildren down the line, but no... he'll be fine. He's not the type of man to look down at you for this or anything like that. Certain hopeful wishes and hopes of his are simply going to be called to question, nothing more."

"I have to say, Mom," Jane said, grinning widely now, "you're taking this a lot better than I expected."

"Well, perhaps since you've told me a secret of yours, I should perhaps tell you a similar one of mine," Hannah said, an almost devious look on her face.

"What's that?" Jane asked playfully, believing that some kind of joke revelation was incoming.

"I'm attracted to women too," Hannah revealed, as casually as if she had said, "I like chocolate."

Unfortunately for her, the sudden revelation of her mother's sexuality took Jane completely by surprise, and she had the type of reaction she was almost expecting her mother to have from her own admission earlier. Her large green eyes went ever larger, and all she got out of her mouth was the word "what" before she stumbled on her treadmill. She tried to correct herself, but her left foot didn't land well with the fast whirring treads, wrenching the leg suddenly and sending a jolt of pain down her left thigh. The pain caused her to let go of the handlebars and she fell backwards, almost hitting her head on a weight machine a few feet behind the treadmill. Before she could open her eyes again, she felt two comforting hands on her shoulders and heard a soothing voice from her right.

"Honey!" Hannah said sharply. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

Jane opened her eyes and saw her mother's face looking at her lovingly just a few inches away.

"I'm not sure. I think I'm..."

Jane tried to stand up, but groaned in pain and slumped back down as a burning sensation seared up her inner left thigh and at her left hip. Hannah noticed her daughter's hand move to where the pain was most intense and she nodded at Jane with a frown.

"You've probably wrenched a few muscles in your upper leg and lower back," Hannah said. "There s a medical kit in the locker room, it's probably got some medi-gel in there."

"No!" Jane objected sharply. "No medi-gel."

"No?" Hannah questioned with raised brows. Jane shook her head.

"It's just some sprained and pulled muscles, Mom," Jane stated firmly. "I can't go running to medi-gel for every minor injury. I need to grow fitter, stronger and tougher, and medi-gel won't do that if I use it for every scratch, scrape, bump and sprain. We fix this and let it heal the traditional way."

"Ever the stubborn one," Hannah said, shaking her head but with a smile. "Let's go then. Need a hand up, or are you too tough for that?"

"That would be appreciated," Jane said. "Just so long as you don't carry me in. I still need to have some dignity."

Hannah tousled her daughter's hair with a laugh, and then slowly helped her to her feet. Using her mother to support herself, Jane was slowly led from the gym to the female locker rooms. Hannah helped her daughter take a seat on one of the benches. While Hannah rifled through the first aid kit just inside the doorway, Jane winced and rubbed at her sore leg, then moved her neck and arms around a little to make sure there were no other injuries she hadn't noticed yet. Aside from a big bruise on the back of her right shoulder, a smaller one on the same forearm and a slightly sore spot on her right knee, the rest of the pain was pretty much all concentrated in the same area.

Hannah placed the first-aid kit down, then got Jane to sit there and try and move her left leg, telling her when it hurt and where. Hannah nodded and confirmed Jane's reports each time, then asked her daughter to lie down face-first on a soft, thin gym mat at the back of the room. Jane felt her mother press down on the left side of her lower back, and after a couple of minutes of this her mother asked her to turn over and sit up. Gathering the medical kit from the bench where Jane originally sat to cart it to where she now sat, Hannah gave Jane her diagnosis.

"It definitely seems you've pulled some muscles rather nastily, so I think we'll just do a few stretching exercises to help you out, then you'd better see the doctor. There's also something in her that you can rub into your leg that might relieve some of the pain. Unless it's too close to medi-gel for you."

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Jane said.

"Good," Hannah nodded. "For starters then, lie down on your back flat."

Jane did, then Hannah kneeled down to Jane's feet. Taking Jane's left foot in her hands, Hannah looked back to her daughter's face.

"Now, I'm going to carefully raise your left up, and you bend your knee as I do. I'm then going to put pressure on the leg, okay?"

"No problem," Jane nodded. "Go ahead."

Hannah nodded back silently, and then did what she told her daughter she would. Jane winced a bit at the motion, but it wasn't too bad, especially as it was done gradually. It hurt all right, but the way her muscles stretched and the manner of the pain let Jane know that it was having a positive effect.

"How's that? Not too bad?" Hannah asked, now resting most of her torso down upon Jane's left leg. Jane nodded up at her mother, whose head was only about a foot above hers, though hovering over her chest rather than her face.

"Good," Hannah smiled. "I'll let the leg down now for a few seconds, and then we'll bring it up again, and repeat the process a few times."

The first couple of times they repeated the process neither Shepard said anything not to do with the stretching exercise. On the third time back up, Hannah let out a laugh as she gazed down at Jane and spoke more casually. "Sorry about that, honey. I shouldn't have acted so casual about it."

"So it's true?" Jane asked. "You're not just messing with me or trying to make me feel better because I got hurt?"

"Oh, it's true alright," Hannah said. "I've been bisexual since before your age. Not exactly sure why, and I haven't exactly been shouting about it across the treetops or anything. In fact, you're now one of only a small handful of people that know."

"Dad knows then?"

"He knows, honey," Hannah said. "Not that it's mattered since we got together and you were born. I still appreciate the female form though. I may be married to your father, but that hasn't changed how I feel. It doesn't mean I'm going to cheat on him or anything, but I'm still human. The important thing is controlling yourself, like with anything."

"Is that some kind of dig at me?" Shepard joked. Hannah laughed.

"It wasn't intended that way, but it is now," the elder Shepard said with a wink. "Okay, that's enough of that for now. We'll see if some of this stuff helps before it starts swelling-up."

Jane nodded and Hannah released the pressure on her leg, letting her lower it. Fishing a small oval container from the first aid kit, she opened the lid and gave her daughter more instructions.

"You'll have to lower those pants, honey. I have to rub this into the skin."

Jane didn't think twice, since this was her mother, and she carefully pulled her track pants down her legs. It wasn't easy with a jolt of pain tearing down her thigh, so Hannah helped her until they were below her knees.

"That's far enough," Hannah said. "Open your legs a bit now, honey. Where's the pain worst?"

"Here," Jane indicated.

Hannah scooped out a gob of some fairly dull looking creamy paste and applied it to Jane's upper leg, just above the knee where the pain reached the lowest. The stuff itself was cold upon contact, but as her mother began running it in it began to feel warmer. Jane looked up at her mother as she leaned down over her, applying and rubbing all the while.

"So," Hannah started. "Now that I know... is there really still nobody special in my little girl's life?"

"That's still the truth," Jane said, almost regretfully it sounded. "It's not like I'm not focused on other things though."

"Yet at the same time, you know you like other girls," Hannah said, putting Jane on the spot.

"I know I find girls attractive, but... I haven't found anybody that's, well..."

"Special?" Hannah finished.

"Yeah, I guess that's right," Jane said. "Still... what does another woman look for in a woman?"

"You're asking me?" Hannah said.

"Well, you've told me you like women too now. What do you look for in a girl?"

"Honey, different women look for different things in a woman, just like they do if they're interested in men. There's no single answer. You yourself will like certain kinds of women for different reasons than somebody else will."

"I guess," Jane said with a sigh. "I just sometimes wonder if you're right about what you said earlier."

"Oh? How's that?"

"I mean about me being too, I don't know... butch. Too much of a tomboy, or too tough for most women. I mean, women are into women for them being like women right? For being feminine, like you said, not for being mannish!"

Hannah laughed, still rubbing the cream into Jane's thigh as she did. When she stopped, she leaned in close to Jane and looked down at her daughter with one of the most loving and caring expressions Jane had seen.

"Honey... you are anything but mannish. You are beautiful and gorgeous, and you have a wonderful personality and a very attractive figure. You are strong, but you have in no way lost your femininity."

Jane felt her mother's free hand gently stroke her cheek, and as she gazed up at her she felt a strange sensation in her stomach. She always knew her mother was beautiful, and at the age of 34 Hannah Shepard was in her prime, looking closer to 28 thanks to her lifestyle and career. But as she gazed down at Jane with that loving, half-lidded look of warmth, with locks of brown hair clinging to her forehead and her skin glistening with beads of sweat all over, it was suddenly quite different for Jane. She was suddenly aware of her mother's lustrous lips, the way her mother's tank top clung to her body and the fact she was wearing small athletic shorts that revealed almost all of her perfectly sculpted legs. Jane noticed the way her mother's tank top plunged down at the front into a soft valley, and the swell of the mounds that it led to, peaked off with two distinct imprints pressed against their sweat-soaked covering. Time had seemed to slow, and Jane noticed the incredible softness of her mother's palm against her cheek, the weird sensation in her stomach that seemed to rise and fall between fear and want somehow, and most of all how closer her mother's hand now was to her most tender, sensitive area. Jane felt her heart begin to beat, and her face felt hot, and what her mother did next didn't help matters.

Hannah lent down slowly towards Jane, and placed a gentle peck on her daughter's lips. It was no different from any other kiss that she'd been given before, but while it only lasted a split second, for some reason the sensation seemed to linger there for longer. Her mother pulled back away slowly, and for a moment Jane thought her own beating heart was going to drown out her mother's words.

"You're perfect, Honey," Hannah said. "If I was half my age and I wasn't your mother, I'd jump on you in a heartbeat."

Jane's mind was a fog after that, which is why she replied with what she did. "If you did, I think I'd let you."

At first Hannah smiled at the comment, clearly taking it as just a joke on her daughter's part, but as she looked at her daughter's face she noticed the reddened cheeks and hazy eyes that seemed to stare straight through her. It clicked that Jane had said it with rather heavy breathing, and how much her daughter's chest was rising and falling. Hannah looked into her daughter's eyes with a puzzled expression, and her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but nothing came out. Suddenly aware of her hand still rubbing her daughter's thigh, she gazed down to notice the tips of her fingers less than an inch now from Jane's sex. She stopped the motions, and then slowly took her hand away, leaning back up to kneel at Jane's feet.

"Well, I... I think that's enough for now," Hannah said, clearly flustered. "I think we'll leave your care in the hands of a doctor now. You'd better pull your pants back up and I'll help you to the med-bay."

"Mom, wait," Jane said as she pulled herself up without Hannah's help. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Jane. I understand," Hannah responded.

"No, it's not okay," Jane huffed. "I didn't mean to say that to you, I was just... I just got caught up in the talk, and then what you said, and... Like you said before, at my age my hormones run wild, and with you rubbing my thigh like that and all the..."

"Honey!" Hannah interrupted, and she smiled at her daughter and stroked some matted red locks of hair away from her eyes. "It's okay. Like I said, I understand. I was a teenager too once."

Hannah opened her arms. "Come on," she said, and Jane hugged her mother back. "Let's just get you to the doctor, and we'll forget about it all." 


	3. 3: Crossed Lines

February 14th, 2186 CE SSV Orizaba

Jane had joined her mother aboard the Orizaba just as promised, taking a tour around the ship and meeting the senior officers, before joining her mother for lunch in the mess hall. Jane was glad in some ways that they were eating in a public area with Alliance personnel walking back and forth around them or sitting at other tables nearby. She knew her mother wasn't going to say anything to appropriate while they were out in the open like that. The mealtime conversation was actually mostly about Hannah, with Jane wanting to know more about what her mother had been up to over the past few years, particularly during the two-year gap where Jane had essentially been dead.

Jane was proud that her mother was a Captain now, and even understood why she'd turned down the offer to be an Admiral. Jane too wondered whether a desk job would ever suit her quite often, but every time the thought crossed her mind it was eventually dismissed. She and her mother were peas of the same pod; they had to be out there making a difference directly, not pushing papers and telling others to do the dirty work. Eventually, well after they'd finished the last of their food, the Orizaba's XO came over the comms with a message for Hannah: it was only half an hour until their scheduled departure.

"Sorry, honey. Duty calls," Hannah said with a pout.

"I understand," Jane said. "I'd probably best be heading off myself."

"Before you go, honey," Hannah said, reaching over the table to take Jane's hands in hers. "I just want to tell you something."

Jane looked over at her mother, and saw the intensity and seriousness of her gaze. It dawned on her that they were basically alone, with the nearest other person a kitchen hand clattering in the kitchen a fair distance away. "What is it, Mom?" Jane asked.

"If things don't work out for you in the future, whether it's at the trial, this whole Reaper thing, or... other things," Hannah said, and Jane was pretty sure that last, unspecific thing was referring to her relationship with a certain blue-skinned person. "I just want you to know that I'll always be here for you."

"As a mother?" Jane asked.

"As whatever you want me to be," Hannah said, squeezing Jane's hand. "I don't want to pressure you, and I understand that it's probably for the best to keep things how they are. But... I love you. I always will. And if you need me at all, I'll be here."

Jane didn't say anything, instead just trying to read her mother's face. Hannah blinked away some tears and let go of her daughter's hand, then stood up and smoothed her uniform.

"I should be on the bridge, honey," Hannah said, and she came around the table and opened her arms. Jane hugged her mother, and Hannah sighed contentedly at her shoulder. "I'm glad we finally caught up again. I missed you."

"Me too, Mom," Jane said.

"Just remember to stay in touch," Hannah said as they parted, prodding Jane just below her throat. "If I can ever help you with this Reaper thing, I'll do what I can."

Hannah saluted, and Jane returned the gesture. With a smile and a nod, Hannah turned and left, heading towards the main elevator. Just before disappearing from sight, she stopped and turned back to her daughter, saying one last thing.

"Take note of what day it is today, honey," Hannah noted with a bittersweet smile. "Perhaps it's fate we met today."

Jane's brow furrowed briefly, and then it hit her what her mother had meant. She replied, more to herself than her mother, and it came out as a whisper nobody else caught. "Valentine's Day," she breathed.

Jane returned to her own ship straight away, and the Normandy left The Citadel less than an hour later. It had been a long day for Jane, and what had been a lunch for her and her mother was closer to a late evening meal on Jane's timeline. Jane retired for a night's sleep, but sleep didn't come easily. Her mind kept drifting back to what her mother had said, then to her future, and finally back to the past. Events of her first hints of attraction to her mother had flooded back to her before the meal, but now more memories returned. If those earlier memories had been the moment when the line was set, these would be the memories when the line was crossed.

April 10th, 2172 CE Shepard Family Home, Earth

It was soon to be a big day for Jane. Come midnight she would be 18 years old, and at sunrise that following day, she'd be enlisted in the Alliance military. That's why Jane Shepard had been home for the last couple of days, on Earth. Although if she had to be honest, to her it wasn't really home at all. With her parents going from ship to ship and station to station, and her in much the same predicament, the Shepard residence on Earth was used so infrequently it was more like a vacation house than a real home. Every year the three of them had to have spent only a month there at the most, and most of the time that was squandered largely around Christmas and New Years as a big three-week lump, and then perhaps a few days scattered throughout the year now and then. The Shepard family were nomads, and career military, and as such even a transfer to new Alliance cruiser felt more familiar and homey than this place.

But this was a special occasion, and there was a certain special something about the Shepard home. There had been lots of good memories within those walls, a lot of laughs and a lot of times when they could just be a family and forget about military doctrine and rules. Home may not have truly been where the heart was, but it was at least safe and stable, and allowed them all to simply relax. That said, they were here right now largely because of all that military nonsense, with the youngest member of the family finally joining her parents in its ranks. Jane was in a great mood, as was Hannah. The two had spent the day making and icing Jane's cake, blowing up balloons and generally goofing off, and for a moment Jane felt like a kid again. But there was still one member missing from the party, and late that afternoon Hannah got a call that would come close to ruining a good day.

"You're joking! God damn it, you're her father!"

Watching a vid in the living room, Jane heard her mother yelling from the next room. Judging from those words, she had already pretty much figured out what the story was. She waited quietly for her mother to finish and appear in the doorway before she spoke.

"He's not coming, is he," Jane said. It wasn't a question.

"No, honey, he's not," Hannah sighed. "Damn it! I should have known this would happen."

"He's got a job to do, Mom. He's out there fighting for Earth."

"Don't defend him, honey. Surely he can take just two days off for his daughter's special day," Hannah grumbled. "He applied for the leave, it was granted. There's no excuse. I got the time off and I'm here, and we're both in the same boat."

"It's okay, Mom," Jane said. "It's not that big of a deal. I understand."

"It's not okay, Jane!" Hannah barked. "And you don't understand!"

Jane flinched at her mother's outburst, casting her head downwards. "Okay," she whispered.

Hannah's heart broke, and she strode across to her daughter. "Oh, honey... I'm sorry," Hannah said, scooping Jane up in her arms. "I didn't mean to upset you. It's just that... he's... he's never here, honey. He always promises he will be, but he's not."

"I'm sorry too, Mom," Jane said, returning the hug as much as she could. "I forgot this doesn't just affect me."

"It's okay, honey," Hannah said. "It's not your fault." She pulled away and stroked her daughter's hair. "Tell you what, how about we just go ahead and have the best damn birthday party for you without him anyway. That way it's his own damn fault for missing out. We'll have stories that'll make him wish he'd been here and never miss another important event like this again."

"Sounds good, Mom," Jane beamed back. "We'll have a real girl's night, just the two of us."

"Now you're talking," Hannah said. "Now let's finally cut that cake that's been taunting us the last couple of hours."

The Shepard girls did as they had planned, and the rest of the afternoon and evening was a blast for the two of them. Not once did they pause and lament the absence of Jane's father. Jane thought everything had gone perfectly, until just after she'd gone to bed. Feeling thirsty she went to get a glass of water, but heard a strange noise coming from her mother's room. Getting closer to investigate, she realized it was her mother sobbing. Jane couldn't ever remember hearing her mother cry, usually thinking her mother to be so strong. When Hannah Shepard was upset she usually got mad, not sad. Jane felt something stab her heart hearing that sound, so she tapped on her mother's door quietly. "Mom? Can I come in?"

"Sure," she heard her mother eventually reply. "It's not locked."

The door beeped and whisked aside, and Jane tiptoed in. Her mother was lying on her back in her bed, initially staring at the ceiling, but as Jane approached she turned her head and smiled, trying to sniff and blink away whatever had upset her. Jane was only wearing a loose tank top and her panties, so she rubbed her arms as she stood there. Had her father been home she probably would have put on a dressing gown before leaving her room in the first place, but she knew it was just her and her mother, so her lack of covering wasn't an issue.

"Is something wrong, honey?" Hannah asked. "Couldn't sleep or something?"

"I was actually going to ask you the same thing," Jane said straightforwardly. "I heard you crying."

"Oh, it's nothing, honey. Don't worry yourself about it."

"It's not nothing, Mom," Jane said stubbornly. "If it was nothing, you wouldn't be doing it."

"Even so, I don't want to bother you with it, Jane," Hannah said with a sigh.

"Too late. I'm already bothered. So tell me."

Jane sat on the edge of her mother's bed and took one of her mother's hands in her own. Hannah looked at her daughter, and she couldn't say no to those eyes. Even if she had, she knew Jane wouldn't let her. Hannah sighed heavily.

"It's just... your father, Jane. He's never here. He's too married to the Alliance and not enough to me."

"That's the career you both chose, Mom," Jane said straightforwardly. "You had to know it would be like this."

"I know, but... that's not quite what I meant," Hannah said. "I mean, he's not here for me. He's not..."

Hannah's sentence evaporated, and she seemed to struggle with words. Eventually she gave up.

"Damn it! I used to be able to avoid this by telling you that I'll tell you these things when you're older, but I can't do that now. You'll be eighteen soon. You ARE older."

Jane looked puzzle for a moment, then her eyes bugged out for a split second, and her brow twisted.

"Are you saying that, him not being here, that... you're talking about..."

"Yes, honey," Hannah said, saving her daughter from embarrassment. "I'm saying that I'm lonely. And your father isn't here to... ease that loneliness." She sighed. "He's not even here sleeping beside me in bed, let alone anything else. I'm sick of lying here alone."

It was deathly quiet for a moment between them, with Hannah just staring up at the ceiling. After a while, without a word, Jane pulled back the covers of her mother's bed, then crawled in beside her. Hannah just watched silently, her eyebrows raised, until Jane pulled the covers back over both of them and snuggled up to her mother. Jane smiled widely at Hannah. "That better, Mom?" she asked.

"Oh, honey," Hannah said, kissing Jane's brow. "Of course it is. Thank you."

"Any time, Mom," Jane said, nestling her forehead into the nape of her mother's neck.

"I don't know," Hannah said jokingly. "You're starting to get a bit old for this now."

"I'm never to old to love my Mom," Jane answered.

"Glad to hear," Hannah sighed.

"Besides, I was getting cold sitting there in my underwear," Jane added.

Hannah laughed, kissing the top of her daughter's head. Jane wrapped her arms around her mother's body, her fingers playing with the silky material of the chemise her mother wore to bed. For what seemed like eons they just lay there in each other's arms, basking in the moment and each other's warmth.

"So, do you want to talk about it, Mom?" Jane broke the silence with.

"Are you sure you want to hear it?" Hannah replied with a deep sigh. "I don't want to warp my poor daughter's mind."

"Just be honest about it, Mom," Jane said. "No need to go into intimate details, just... tell me why you're frustrated."

"I'm not sure you'd like to hear the honest truth, honey," Hannah said. "You might hate me for it."

"I'd never hate you, Mom," Jane said. "No matter what you said."

Hannah stared into her daughter's honest eyes and then hugged her tighter. "Oh, my poor Jane. I hope you don't eat those words."

"You can do it, Mom. Just let it out."

"Okay," Hannah said, and she inhaled and exhaled loudly. "Okay, here it is. Simply put, your father doesn't really satisfy me. He's never here, and even when he is, he just... isn't what I'm after."

"Are you saying you don't love dad?" Jane asked.

"No, honey. I do love him. But, not in the way you may of thought or hoped. He's very special to me, but..."

Hannah searched for the next words, but couldn't think of anything that was right. She looked to Jane who just had wide eyes looking like they'd brim with tears any moment if she didn't say the right thing, so she sighed and turned over on one shoulder to face her daughter.

"I think the best, most honest way of putting it is that I love your father, but I'm not IN love with him. Do you understand, honey?"

"I... I think so," Jane said. "Is this something new or... or did you always feel like that."

"Honestly, I think I always did," Hannah admitted. "If it wasn't for you, I probably wouldn't have married him."

"Because I was an accident?" Jane said, her eyes downcast.

"Oh no! No, honey!" Hannah said, kissing Jane on the forehead. "You weren't an accident, you were a miracle. I never, ever regret you coming into our lives."

Hannah took Jane's chin, forcing her to look her in the eyes. "Never doubt that, honey. You are the most special thing that's ever happened to me, and I love you more than anything. Never. Doubt. That."

"Then why?" Jane asked. "Why don't you truly love Dad?"

"Because he's..." Hannah started, and again searched for a satisfactory answer for her daughter. "Because he's..." Still nothing, and she gave up and sighed. "Because he's a he, Jane. Because your father is a man."

Jane's brow twisted and she looked at her mother sideways. Hannah shook her head, then stroked her daughter's hair lovingly.

"I'm like you, honey. I lied to you when I told you I liked men as well... when I said I was bisexual. I'm not. I just like girls. And your father simply can't cut it in that department. That's the honest truth."

"I'm sorry, Mom," Jane said. "I didn't know."

"You're apologizing to me?" Hannah said with puzzlement. "I'm the one who should be apologizing!"

"No, you're not," Jane said. "You shouldn't apologize for who you are."

"I wish the rest of the world was as insightful and accepting as you are, honey," Hannah said. "Or even just my parents and the Alliance brass would do."

"So Grandpa and Grandma are part of the reason you married dad?"

"They always wanted me to find a husband," Hannah said frankly. "I never dared to try and find out if they would have accepted me finding a wife or even simply a girlfriend. They just went on and on far too much about traditional family values and grandchildren and the like, it just never seemed likely, so I kept it from them. Still have."

"I'm so sorry, Mom," Jane said, hugging her mother closer. "I wish I could help you."

"It's okay, honey," Hannah said, stroking Jane's hair. "It's not your problem to fix. I just have to face the facts: I'm stuck like this. Sacrifices must be made if I'm to be an Alliance soldier, and one of them is being lonely and being married to my career. It's as simple as that. Don't worry, it's not as bad as I make it out to be. I'm usually fine, it's only times like this when I'm off-duty and not busy that it bothers me. I'm only lonely when I'm alone."

"You might find somebody someday, Mom," Jane tried to assure. "There has to be somebody out there who you can trust and love, and who will trust and love you back."

"It's a nice thought, honey," Hannah said, turning back over to stare at the ceiling. "But a futile one. The closest person I have to that is you, and that's as close as I'm going to get."

"I hope you're wrong, Mom," Jane said, nuzzling into the nape of her mother's neck. "But if it is, I love you, and I'm always here for you."

A smile came to Hannah's lips and she laughed, turning back to face her daughter. "Oh, of course you are honey. I know you are. But you're my daughter, and..."

Hannah's voice seemed to vanish, her smile along with it. Jane wasn't sure what the expression was the replaced it. Her mother began to look a little confused, or as if something had just dawned on her. She stroked Jane's cheek, mouth opening as if about to say something, but it seems she was still finding the words. The smile returned and she stroked some locks of hair away from Jane's face.

"And you're so loving and beautiful," Hannah said, as if ending the sentence she'd abandoned before.

Jane smiled back at her mother, and Hannah's own smile faltered, replaced by that same look she'd just had before. Her pupils moved around, like she was taking in every inch of her daughter's face, and Jane's smile too left her to be substituted with one of curiosity. Hannah's gentle stroking of her cheek became a single finger tracing Jane's jaw line before it curved around and rested on her lower lip.

"Honey, I think..." Hannah began, and she abandoned that and cleared her throat. "Honey, remember back when you... Remember that day when we both told each other about how we liked women? When you hurt yourself in the gym?"

"Yes," Jane responded after a slight delay where she was trying to figure out where this was going. She suddenly noticed how large and wide her mother's eyes were, and how there seemed to be fear in them for some reason. Jane's answer made Hannah look down smile for a moment, then her mother took a deep breath and looked back at her with an intensely deep gaze. Hannah's next question to her seemed to almost be forced out, her voice breaking a little as she spoke.

"Do you... Do you remember what I said to you, when... When you were doubting your ability to draw the interest of a woman?"

"I think so," Jane said, feeling a weird yet familiar sensation in her stomach. "Something about me being beautiful and attractive, and that I was still feminine?"

"Yes. And what did I say after that?" Hannah said, her gaze seeming deeper than before. In fact, Jane had never been stared at so intensely before.

"Tha... That if you were half your age and not my mother, you'd be..." Jane's throat felt dry, so she swallowed. "You would be on me in a heartbeat."

"That's right, honey," Hannah said, blinking swiftly. Jane noticed there seemed to be tears in her mother's eyes, and then Hannah averted them down. "I just... I just wanted you to know that, I... I meant it."  
There was a pause and she looked up again, streams glistening down her cheeks and that intense gaze returning. "I still do," she added.

Jane couldn't think of how to respond, just lying there looking back at her mother with confusion. The sensation in her stomach seemed to grow, and she recognized it fully now. It was the same feeling she'd had when her mother was leaning down over her during the very moments they were just discussing. Jane felt her mother's finger upon her bottom lip again as Hannah began to trace an outline around her daughter's mouth while her eyes seemed to trace her face.

"And do you remember what... you said to me?" Hannah asked, voice wavering and eyes shiny.

"That... That I would... let... you," Jane said, almost a whisper.

Hannah smiled and nodded softly, a blush coming to her cheeks. She removed her finger from Jane's lips and shifted slightly in the bed until her face was about an inch closer to Jane's. As her mother spoke, Jane could feel the warmth of her mother's breath gently drift against her lips and chin.

"And, did you... mean it?" Hannah queried.

Before Jane could even take in her mother's question, she felt a sudden warmth on her thigh, causing her to gasp slightly. It was her mother's fingers, which gently began to rub her in a callback to that very event, right in the same place they had been that fateful day. Jane looked into her mother's eyes, which were now slightly heavy-lidded and hazy. Hannah's lips were parted a little, and Jane could feel shorter, sharper breaths blowing against her own. The younger Shepard didn't respond verbally, instead just nodding her head.

"Good," Hannah said, sniffing and smiling as a fresh stream of liquid slid down one cheek. "Even now?"

Jane nodded again, her own eyes beginning to tear up. A short laugh sounded from Hannah, who removed her hand from Jane's thigh to stoke her cheek again.

"You make me so happy, honey," Hannah said lovingly, looking deeply into Jane's eyes. "I'm so proud of you, and I love you. I just don't want to hurt you or betray your trust."

"You could never do that, Mom," Jane croaked, reaching up and stroking her mother's upper arm gently. "I'll always trust you and love you."

"I'm relieved to hear that, Honey," Hannah said. "I want you to trust me. I want you to love me. I want you to..."

Hannah's voice vanished and she studied her daughter's face again for a moment, still stroking her cheek. Again the strokes transformed to one index finger tracing down to her daughter's lips, and her loving gaze became more intense until she seemed to stare straight into Jane's soul. "God forgive me, Jane... I simply want you," Hannah finished.

To both of them it seemed like an eternity of just staring at each other after those words, like the whole universe was on pause for a while. Jane was the one to break the silence.

"Mom, I..."

"Hush," Hannah said, pressing a finger to her daughter's lips. "Don't speak. Just..."

Time seemed to stop again for a while, until the finger gradually left Jane's lips. Hannah began to slowly lean towards her daughter, and Jane closed her eyes and just parted her lips, letting them just go limp for a while. She felt the warmth of another set of lips make contact with her own, and press gently against them. There was just one small peck to start, no different than any other kiss her mother had given her. Two more followed much the same. The next lasted a little longer, and Jane heard and felt her mother shift beside her afterwards, then felt familiar fingers stroke her cheek.

The kiss after this was something special though, as Jane immediately felt a more intense pressure against her lips, and felt another moist tongue slide past them to make contact with her own. Jane felt the need to no longer keep her mouth limp any further, compelled to respond with as much as she was being given. Jane had never been kissed like this before, and the sensation was incredible to her. Her returned efforts were almost an instinct, and they seemed to be working, with no sense that she was being clumsy or doing a bad job of it. Somehow it all seemed natural. 


	4. 4: Forbidden Passion

It had to have been almost two minutes before they stopped, and Jane opened her eyes. She stared across at Hannah's loving face, and only then the nature of the situation seemed to dawn on her. She was French-kissing with her own mother, the woman who brought her into this world. How did this happen? When did she go from lying in bed talking with her mother about her problems, to making-out with a beautiful goddess? As Hannah stroked Jane's hair, the younger Shepard looked back and realized it was because they were the same person. Her mother was a beautiful goddess, and she was the most attractive woman Jane had ever come across. She was smart, beautiful, witty, caring, sexy and loving. Hannah was everything Jane wanted from a woman, but she was her mother. Jane knew it was wrong to feel this way, and that they should probably stop before things got out of hand. But she wanted it, and she could tell by looking into her mother's eyes that so did she. For the first time in a long time, the usually strong Jane Shepard began to shake.

"Honey, you're trembling," Hannah said with concern, stroking Jane's cheek. "Have I... Have I made you feel uncomfortable? Do you not..."

Regret seemed to strike Hannah's features as she looked for the next words, but Jane reacted up and cupped her mother's chin, causing the older woman to glance into her eyes curiously. Jane tried to give her mother a reassuring smile.

"It's not that, Mom," Jane soothed. "It's... a mix of things. Part of me is nervous, because we're... well... mother and daughter."

Hannah seemed to wince at that, closing her eyes and half turning away. Jane continued, not letting her hand leave her mother's chin, as the thumb gently stroked Hannah's cheek. "But, I'm also shaking because... I want... this, Mom. As strange as that admission may sound. It's as much anticipation and desire as anything else."

Hannah opened her eyes again, and saw Jane's wide, honest ones gleaming back at her. She could see the sincerity and love in them.

"I love you, Mom," Jane said. "More than anything and anyone. More than society would say I should. And I want you to love me back, in the same way." Jane paused, taking in a deep breath. "I want you to love me and... make love to me."

For a while Hannah simply stared down at her daughter, her eyes a little bigger and her mouth slightly open in what seemed like mild disbelief. Then she smiled, taking Jane's wrist and moving her daughter's hand from her chin to the side of her face. She stroked her cheek against Jane's fingers, then turned her head and softly kissed the palm and wrist. Her mother again nestling her hand into her cheek, Jane could not remember seeing Hannah's expression look as calm and happy as this before.

"I love you so much, Jane," Hannah cooed down at her daughter, followed by a peck on her wrist again. "God help me, I love you more than I should."

Hannah leaned down and pressed her lips against Jane's gently, giving her a kiss that was somehow both very soft and yet somehow deep. As their lips parted, Jane let out a contented sigh and leaned her head back into the pillow. She closed her eyes and smiled, feeling a warm, wet pressure briefly upon her chin accompanied by the faint sound of a moist smack. She heard the same sound and felt the same sensation upon her throat next, and then a few moments later upon her collarbone. At the same time as she felt a second kiss at her lower throat, Jane also felt a palm make contact with the side of her body, just below her armpit, and slowly begin running down the curve of her back towards her hip. Another soft peck slurped at the center of her upper chest, while the palm flicked across the band of her panties like they were a small speed bump, meeting the bare skin of her upper thigh. Jane sighed again, absent-mindedly both moving one of her own hands down to stroke through her mother's hair just as the next kiss was planted just above the neckline of her tank top, and rising her left knee up as Hannah's hand stroked along the thigh above it, then circled back up to her hip again.

"You have such a beautiful figure, honey," Jane heard Hannah say as if entranced. Jane felt her mother's hand following the same path up and down from just beneath her arm, down her hip and to her thigh. "So muscular and fit, and yet soft and feminine. Both the perfect soldier and the perfect woman, all rolled into one."

Jane opened her eyes and looked up at her mother, who smiled back at her sweetly. "What can I say, Mom," Jane said. "I got it from you."

"Flattery will get you everywhere," Hannah said smoothly, leaning down again to capture her daughter's lips with her mouth.

The way she said "everywhere" made Jane's heart begin to beat faster, and the way Hannah's tongue slid into her mouth quickened it even more. As their mouths and tongues slurped at each other, Jane felt Hannah's fingers stroke her left cheek, then glide down her neck to her shoulder. Hannah's fingers hooked into the left shoulder strap of Jane's tank top and Jane only barely noticed it being slipped down to her upper arm. Hannah's lips retreated from Jane's, and the younger Shepard looked down as her mother planted a kiss down the center of her throat and upper chest, then paused to regard the loosened strap. Jane's eyebrows raised as Hannah's fingertips gently took the upper hem of her top where the collar met the strap, then slowly eased it down until the gentle swell of Jane's left breast began to squeeze itself out of the garment. It didn't take much for the perky bosom to pop itself free, shaking for a brief moment before it sat still, sticking upwards like a mountain with a dark pink cap at the peak.

Jane looked at the exposed breast, then to her mother's face. Hannah was looking at it in a manner somewhere between looking at an adorable puppy and at a delicious dessert. Hannah's first contact with it involved her running her finger around the edge of it a couple of times in a circular motion, followed by her cupping it gently and seeming to test its weight and firmness with a slight squeeze and lift. She looked into her daughter's eyes as she did, letting out a small laugh when she noticed Jane gasp a little at the contact. Hannah pursed her lips, then placed her index finger at the top of Jane's chest, where she slowly ran it down it, and then up the curve of the exposed boob. Like a rollercoaster making the summit of an uphill track, she slowed the ascent as her finger approached the top, paused, then flicked Jane nipple as she ran it down the underside, laughing again as Jane gasped and twitched a little at that moment.

Hannah's next move was to repeat this, but not with her finger. She leaned down to place a kiss on Jane's upper chest, then stuck out her tongue, running it slowly down the path her finger had taken before. Jane felt the pleasant warmth where her mother's tongue was, following by the cooling sensation in its wake as the air touched the moist, saliva-coated trail upon her skin. Just as Hannah's tongue was about to make it to the summit, it detoured around, circling the pink peak twice before stopping just below it. Hannah looked her daughter in the eyes, and Jane looked back. Hannah wanted to know if her daughter really wanted this, and the look in Jane's eyes said yes. Jane thought she could make out the slightest hint of a smile before her mother gracefully flicked her tongue up and across her nipple, sending a pleasant tingle through it. Hannah did this about a dozen more times, and Jane felt the sensation begin to grow and other parts of her body to begin reacting to the stimulation too. Hannah's final flick of Jane's nipple was immediately followed up with her sucking onto the teat, whereby she gently nibbled, suckled and caressed it with her tongue.

Jane moaned, looking down as her mother nursed her breast. She reached down to run her finger through Hannah's hair, and as the warm, pleasant sensation began to drift through her body realization hit her again: her mother was suckling at her breast. This is the first time anybody else had done this to her in her life, and of all the people it was her own mother. And the apparent wrongness of this seemed to be going away with each tender moment between them and each gentle suckle she received. In fact, the more she thought about it and stared down at this beautiful woman tending to her breast, the more right it seemed. Beyond that, the nature of their relationship was actually helping. Not just because her mother was somebody she already loved and trusted so much, but for some reason the forbidden nature of it was actually starting to turn Jane on a little more. Was this a kinky side to herself she didn't know she had? Had those images of her sweat-drenched mother leaning over her while she stroked her thigh bore themselves so much into her subconscious over time that she'd secretly wanted this ever since? All she knew for sure was, it just felt right somehow.

After only a couple of minutes that seemed like forever, Hannah removed her mouth from her daughter's teat with a big, sucking slurp. Sitting up and straddling Jane's waist, she smiled at her daughter with a small chuckle and grabbed the bottom of Jane's tank top with both hands. "Come on, honey. Let's get this off you," Hannah said.

Without even using her arms Jane pulled her self up, bending at the waist and raising her hands above her head. Her face raised up closer to Hannah's, her eyes locked on her mother's the entire time. Hannah paused for a moment, taken in by the intense gaze Jane was giving her. She thought back to the last time she'd seen such a strong, sensual look in her daughter's eyes, and her memory cast back to when she was lying above her in that locker room, gently massaging Jane's thigh. During the experience so far she'd seen some degree of nervousness or doubt in Jane's eyes, but this was the first time that it was completely erased. Instead, there was just a burning lust and a yearning for more. She had dreamed for so long to see a woman look at her like this, and the fact it was her precious Jane sent a chill through her very core.

Hannah felt heat come to her cheeks and she absent-mindedly dragged her tongue across her upper lip, then gradually pulled the garment between her fingers upwards, sliding it up her daughter's body. Jane's breasts were fully freed as her face vanished, but when it reappeared again the same deep, trance-like gaze was there as if it had never been interrupted. The temptation to look down at her now topless daughter was numbed by the pure want and desire in Jane's stare, and Hannah found her daughter's entire face fill her vision as Jane leaned forward to capture her lips in another sensual kiss. Jane slipped the tank top from her arms, then brought them down around her mother's shoulders, who seemed paralyzed from the mouth down from the first kiss between them with Jane in dominance. Jane eased herself back down onto the bed beneath her, gently encouraging Hannah down atop her as their tongues sparred. This continued for a little while even once Jane's head had sunk into the pillow, the younger Shepard exploring her mother's back and shoulders with roaming hands.

Hannah was the one to end the kiss, immediately sliding herself down her daughter's body without pause. Placing a couple of kisses on the way down, Hannah stopped once her eyes were level with Jane's breasts, and her hands caressed up the sides of Jane's hips to take them in her palms and gentle squeeze the soft mounds together. "They're so beautiful, Jane," Hannah said, massaging Jane's breasts softly. "So firm and perfect."

She planted a peck on the tip of the right one, eliciting a small moan from Jane. "I thought they were a bit small," Jane replied between small pants.

"No, they're absolutely perrrrrrfect," Hannah said, dragging her tongue across the left nipple. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to touch a pair of young, divine breasts like these again, honey." She tended to the right nipple again. "I honestly never thought I would."

Jane just lay there in ecstasy for a couple of minutes while her mother snuggled, nursed, licked and suckled her breasts. The warmth was growing in Jane's body, particularly between her legs. It was starting to be more than just a pleasant warmth in fact, but growing more to a burning want. She was definitely beginning to get moist down there as it started to feel like an itch she wanted to scratch. Or even better, have scratched by somebody else. Jane looked down at her mother and noticed how she well at this angle she could look down the front of her nightdress. Jane felt this experience had been fairly one-sided so far, and it was her turn to give something back. She reached out to touch her mother's head. "Mother," Jane said softly, though in the otherwise quiet surroundings it didn't seem so.

Hannah looked up with a curious expression, tongue still out and linked to the nipple beneath it by a strand of saliva. Jane felt strange, so started again. "Hannah?" No, that seemed wrong too. "Um... what do you want me to call you while... we're, uh..."

"Mother or Mom is fine, honey," Hannah said, sitting up, smiling warmly and taking Jane's hand. Then her eyes seemed to become heavily lidded and she added in a breathy voice, "In fact, I'd prefer it like that."

"Mother," Jane said again, and she noticed her mother let out a satisfied moan and bite her bottom lip as she said it, "I think it's my turn to tend to you for a while."

Jane placed a hand on her mother's right shoulder and eased the shoulder strap down her arm. Rising up in much the same manner as she had when her own top was removed, Jane leaned forward and pulled her mother's right breast free of the silky cloth that had hidden it until now. Cupping the orb gently, she extended her tongue out and flicked it across the nipple, eliciting the first noise from her mother since she'd started taking the initiative. After another couple of flicks, she began suckling at it, and felt Hannah cup the back of her head and hold her close.

"Oh, honey," Hannah said. "That feels wonnnnnderful!"

As Jane tended to her breast, Hannah moved her right leg forward a little, which rubbed up against Jane's inner thighs. The action caused Jane to bring her thighs closer against it and she pressed Hannah's knee into her crotch. A brief gasp from the contact interrupted the attention she was giving Hannah's nipple, but she soon resumed again, but pressed her aching sex into her mother's leg at the same time. Feeling the hint of warm moisture upon her knee, Hannah smiled and gently pulled Hannah off her breast. Jane looked up at her mother with confusion, wondering about the sly smile adorning Hannah's lips.

"I didn't know you were so worked up, honey," Hannah said, easing Jane back down into a lying position. "If I had, I wouldn't have let you keep yourself in suspense and focus on me."

Jane felt her mother's leg leave her crotch, but as she watched her mother descend back down, she soon realized she wasn't going to be left without contact there for long. Hannah lay on her side beside Jane in the bed, her face just above Jane's right breast. While the index finger of Hannah's left hand played with Jane's hair and tickled her cheek now and then, the same finger on the right hand was placed upon Jane's lips, and then began to trail down the center of her body. First her chin, then down her throat to her chest. It ran between her breasts, Hannah kissing Jane's right nipple as it did. The finger closed in on Jane's navel, where it circled around it a couple of times before continuing its journey. It flicked up over the waistband of Jane's panties, slowing down as it went further upon material instead of skin now. Jane held her breath as she watched, waiting for it to make it to her most sensitive spot. But it didn't. It stopped.

Hannah looked into Jane's eyes, and her daughter looked back, her eyes pleading for contact to be made. Jane even mouthed the word "please" to her mother and reached up to grasp her mother's closer left wrist, but Hannah just smiled and dragged her tongue across her daughter's nipple again. She let a few seconds pass, then moved her right hand, bringing the ring finger up to meet the index one, still a couple of inches away from where Jane wanted them to be. What Jane couldn't see from her angle was where her mother's thumb was, which caught her off guard when Hannah firmly pressed it into her damp, cloth-covered sex. Jane moaned with pleasure, pressing her head back into the pillow and squeezing her mother's left hand. Hannah could feel the heat and wetness pressing into her thumb, and the scent of her daughter's arousal began to tingle her nostrils. Smiling lovingly and kissing the side of Jane's breast, Hannah retracted the thumb, then brought her daughter's hand to her mouth to nuzzle it. After a few seconds had passed, she pressed the thumb back into Jane's crotch, getting the same reaction as before. She smiled, then repeated the withdrawal and application of her thumb again for a third time, basking in the way her daughter writhed and moaned at her rather simple, yet effective, touch.

"You're very sensitive, Jane," Hannah said, now gently stroking Jane's panties with only the very tip of her thumb, which felt like a very pleasant tickle to the younger Shepard. "Has anybody else ever touched you there before?"

"N-n-no," Jane admitted with a shiver. "Ju-just me."

"So, what you're saying is... I'm the first," Hannah said. "That if we keep going, I'll be your first."

"Yes," Jane said, even though it wasn't a question. Her mother looked like she needed assurance though.

"Is that what you want?" Hannah asked next, staring into her daughter's eyes deeply.

For a moment Jane thought her mother was teasing, but the tone in her voice, while filled with desire, was also very genuine and serious. Jane's brow twisted and Hannah averted her gaze briefly and elaborated, her voice shaky. "I mean, I know a lot of people want their first time to be special, and with somebody who is just as special. I don't want to think I'm taking that away from you just to satisfy my own ancient desires, because I..."

Jane silenced her mother by placing a finger against her lips, then stroked her cheek.

"I want this, Mom," Jane told her. "You are special to me, and these moments we've been sharing have been special. So I have no doubt at all in my mind that if it's you, it will be special too."

Jane's hand moved to her mother's other shoulder then ran its way down the length of the arm until she wrapped her hand around the one at the end of it. Staring deeply into her mother's eyes, she spoke her next words with absolute conviction. "I want it to be you, Mom. I want my beautiful mother to be my first. I want you to touch me, kiss me, and pleasure me all night long, and I want to do the same to you. Because I trust you more than anything, and love you more than anything."

Jane pressed her thumb down over her mother's and into her own dampness, moaning as she did it and staring into her mother's very soul with hazy eyes of desire and love. "And I want you to love me," Jane finished with a husky voice. "Not just as a daughter, and not just as a lover, but as a daughter and a lover."

Hannah didn't say anything as she let her daughter's words sink in, searching for any hint of doubt in Jane's eyes. She saw none. Hannah remained silent, only smiling and letting out something half sniff and half laugh before she leaned forward to press her lips against Jane's once more. Their mouths slurped and slipped against and between each other, undeterred by the tiny interruptions whenever Jane gasped, moaned or jerked from her mother gently stroking one finger between her legs now and then, with only a thin layer of cloth preventing direct contact. After a while the kisses stopped, and Jane was left with her mouth open skyward, waiting for more, only to not receive it. She opened her eyes and her mother's face wasn't there, but she was prompted to look down the length of her body as she felt a wet smack upon her stomach, just above her navel. Hannah smiled up at Jane, placing another loving peck just below her belly button. Jane's eyes widened as she felt Hannah's fingers upon her hips, slipping under the elastic of her panties. She realized what her mother was going to do next. 


	5. 5: Honey and Nectar

Jane acted next herself without prompting, raising her legs straight up into the air on either side of her mother, then bringing them together once they were fully vertical. She felt the cool air touch her bottom and most private regions as Hannah slipped her underwear from her and up her legs, releasing them from Jane's toes and spinning them a couple of times around her finger before finally casting them to the floor. Hannah's palms pressed against Jane's ankles, and the older Shepard ran them slowly downwards, caressing the soft skin of her daughter's legs until she reached Jane's thighs. As Hannah's fingers began to wrap around the front of her daughter's lap, Jane bent her knees, then brought her legs back down on either side of Hannah, knees still pointed at the ceiling. Hannah looked down between Jane's legs, biting her bottom lip and letting out a petite moan at the first sight of her daughter's now bare sex.

Jane was expecting her mother to touch her there right away now that it was exposed, but she didn't. Instead, Hannah pressed her cheek against Jane's left knee, then kissed her just above it. Hannah began working her lips further along Jane's inner leg via small pecks and nibbles, hazy eyes of blinkless passion locked on Jane's all the while. Jane gradually opened her legs as Hannah proceeded, her mother's lips growing ever closer as they tickled her inner thigh. Jane let out a gasp as her mother's attention finally shifted only a couple of inches away from her folds, only to discover Hannah's mouth flit by where she wanted it to be and instead press just above her right knee. Jane fidgeted at this rather patently, and Hannah couldn't help but give Jane a devilish smile, following up by a long lick across her daughter's right leg. In Hannah's mind a little patience wouldn't hurt Jane.

Hannah continued pressing her face into her daughter's smooth leg. As she kissed, nibbled and nuzzled the tender flesh, she savored the sweet smell of the soap scent upon Jane's skin from the shower she'd had just before bed mingling with the sweat caused by their recent newfound mother-daughter bonding. And as Hannah drew her face further up Jane's thigh, a third scent joined the others, growing ever stronger: her daughter's heated arousal.

Hannah's mouth massaged Jane's upper thigh for a while, lingering a bit before she finally faced Jane's yearning sex. She didn't want to rush things, because to her this moment was precious, and she wanted to take her time and enjoy the forbidden fruit that was her daughter. She wanted this to be good for both of them, and not just go for instant gratification. However, the time was drawing near, and Hannah had to admit that there was a good chance that she probably wanted to take the next step even more than Jane herself.

Hannah shifted, leaving Jane's thigh, and regarding the glorious sight before her that was Jane's soft, pink folds. She breathed in the aroma from them, absentmindedly looking down as they glistened invitingly at her, parting ever so slightly as their owner breathed slowly and deeply. Shaking ever so slightly, Jane placed her hands on where Jane's thighs met her hips, and then slowly brought each thumb down upon her daughter's skin on either side of the coral crease. Pressing down gently, she pulled her thumbs in, parting the folds slowly, and causing Jane to let out a soft moan. Hannah paused, looking down at the exposed canal that filled her nostrils with the steamy aroma of desire and shone with thick nectar of want. Hannah thought that if she were ever to taste ambrosia, this would be it. A thought occurred and she chuckled loud and long.

"What's so funny?" Jane asked between ragged breaths, wondering what had tickled her mother so and delayed her own tickling in the process.

Hannah gathered herself, then glanced up at Jane with a warm smile and eyes of love. "It just occurred to me," Hannah said softly. "I'm about to taste my Honey's honey."

Jane smiled back, cheeks bright and red. "I hope so," she told her mother. "After all, I made it just for you." There was a pause, and the smile faded and Jane's lids became heavy just before she added "Mom."

Hannah noticed the emphasis on that find word, and she felt a warm, pleasant rush throughout her body that culminated in a tingle between her own legs. The nature of their relationship turned her on more than she thought it ever would have, but then, she'd never really considered it until tonight. Or had she? Had she subconsciously also began to feel something towards Jane after that incident in the gym with her daughter all those months ago? She'd definitely seen her as a woman then, and as a sexual being, having noticed how much her baby girl had grown and matured. But she'd have never believed back then that she would be lying between her own daughter's legs, just moments and inches away from pushing past that final frontier of no-turning back. But that didn't mean that perhaps, somewhere deep down she'd wanted it, ever since she saw the affect she had been having on Jane. After all, that's how this all started: her bringing up what they'd said to each other during those awkward moments. Even before they'd grown this close, there was nobody she had loved and trusted more than her daughter, and according to Jane it was a mutual feeling. So as she looked up into Jane's beautiful green eyes, she felt that that was reason alone for what she was about to do next to be absolutely natural and right.

Giving her daughter one last sultry stare, Hannah's face descended between Jane's legs, causing the younger Shepard to jump and let out a squeak as she felt her mother's tongue press upon her spread folds firmly, then slide upwards in a long, smooth motion. The sensation was amazing: firm and yet soft, warm and yet moist, and Jane's head lolled back as she let out a long moan of pleasure. Hannah did this a few more times, Jane letting out a new moan that seemed to get deeper, longer and more lost in the moment each time. Hannah followed this up with a much deeper lick, dipping her tongue into the chasm between Jane's pink pussy lips instead of just working the edges. She pressed into the tight gap deeply, causing Jane to twitch and blaspheme as Hannah scooped her tongue up through her daughter's wet warmth, making brief contact with her clit towards the end. Hannah repeated the process again and again, loving the sensation of Jane squirming and writhing with her every lap as much as the taste of her nectar.

"Ohhhhh, Moooommm," Jane said between pants, finally looking down to witness the act after the last few minutes were nothing but closed eyes and the back of her head pressed firmly into the pillow behind. "Don't stop! God! Soooo gooood!"

Hannah smiled up at her daughter, her tongue still working away. Jane watched her mother tending to her, and grabbed her own breasts in her palms, squeezing them and tweaking the tips. She had wanted somebody to do this to her for years, ever since she'd become interested in girls. And even now, despite all that had happened so far, it was still had to believe the face that was between her thighs was the one doing it. It really was her beautiful mother who had her tongue deep inside her, making her feel better than she'd ever felt before.

After another few licks, Hannah changed her technique a little, exposing Jane's clit more and assaulting it directly, flicking it quickly with the tip of her tongue like a cat with a saucer of milk. This drove Jane even wilder, her already heavy breathing going well into panting territory, and her gasps, moans and squeaks getting louder and faster. As Jane was building closer and closer to climax, Hannah alternated between several techniques and points of focus, randomizing it so as to try and pleasantly surprise her daughter with a different and unexpected sensation each time. Eventually Jane couldn't take any more, and she convulsed as Hannah brought her to her first proper orgasm.

The world seemed to go blurry and hazy to Jane, and for a moment all she could hear was her heart beating in her chest rapidly and a strange buzzing noise. As clarity returns and her muscles began to relax, she noticed the buzzing sound was still there, coming from her right. She looked across to see her mother's alarm clock, and realized that it was making the loud noise. She also noticed the time: 12:00am. Feeling a presence above her, Jane heard a soft chuckle and looked up to see Hannah leaning over her, a large smile on her face as she too regarded the alarm clock. Reaching over, Hannah passed her palm above it and the noise stopped.

"I set it for midnight to wake me up," Hannah explained, and her gaze shifted down to Jane. "I was going to surprise you and give you your present as soon as the time struck twelve."

"I think," Jane started, and she paused and caught her breath, cheeks reddening. "I think you already just did."

Hannah smiled lovingly down at Jane, reaching down to brush some strands of sweat-drenched hair away from her daughter's face before stroking her cheek. "Happy Birthday, Honey," she said.

Hannah leaned down, giving Jane a deep, sensual kiss, and Jane noticed her mother's mouth was a bit wetter than normal. It took Jane but a split second to register that the different taste and smell that was also present was herself on her mother's lips, and she had to admit that it didn't taste that bad. In fact, as she made out with Hannah, she was soon wondering what her mother tasted like too. When the kiss finally ended, Hannah sat back up, straddling Jane's stomach and stroking her cheek again.

"I suppose I should get your other present then," Hannah said. "Though you'll probably think it'll pale to the one you just had." A pause. "At least I'd like to think so."

"I have to admit, it'd be hard to top that," Jane admitted. "But, aren't you forgetting something, Mom?"

Jane took Hannah's hands in hers and began running her thumbs over them in a circular, massaging motion. Hannah cocked and eyebrow. "Oh?" she asked, genuinely confused as to what Jane meant.

"I think I still need to thank you for my first present," Jane explained, running her hands up Hannah's arms now. "And besides, it doesn't seem fair for only me to get off."

Hannah didn't respond verbally, letting Jane illustrate further by example. Jane placed her hands on Hannah's hips, her fingers curling around where the small of her back met her bottom as she gently encouraged Hannah's body to move further up her own. As Hannah's hips passed over Jane's breasts and she saw Jane's smiling mouth opening, she realized what her daughter meant.

"Oh, Honey!" Hannah said, cheeks flaring up in crimson. "As much as I'd love it, you don't have to feel obligated to do that."

"But I want to," Jane said breathily. "And besides, the main reason we started this was for you, not me. You've been neglected for too long, Mom. Let me help you."

Hannah's thighs were right above her daughter's face now, and Jane reached up to hitch up the bottom of her mother's short nightdress and reveal Hannah's clearly swollen, hot and moist sex, which was getting even more aroused than before thanks to her daughter's latest offer.

"If you're sure, Honey," Hannah said, her voice uneven at the thought of what was about to transpire.

"More than sure," Jane said. "I love you, Mom. Let me show you just how much."

Hannah took a deep breath then bit her lower lip and slowly began sliding her knees outwards, letting her pussy descend towards Jane's eager mouth. Hannah stopped about halfway there though, and she heard a surprised and disappointed noise from below. "Don't worry, Honey," Hannah reassured. "No second thoughts. But I can't see you anymore."

Hannah grasped the silky material of her chemise, and in one fluid motion slipped the entire garment off her body, over her head and arms and onto the foot of the bed behind her. Jane gasped at the sight of her now fully naked mother being revealed as Hannah smirked down between her breasts at her daughter, brushing some of her loose hair behind one ear. "I wanted to see your face," Hannah explained further. "I wanted to see that it was you."

"You're so beautiful, Mom," Jane said, running her fingers across her mother's stomach, waist and hips. "You have to be one of the sexiest women I've ever seen."

"Like mother, like daughter then," Hannah said, already slowly lowering herself once more.

It seemed like slow motion to the two Shepard women, but it didn't take long before contact was made, as Jane craned her neck up to run the tip of her tongue across Hannah's folds. Hannah jumped at the first contact, but lowered herself further to be rewarded by an even deeper swipe of the tongue from Jane. The next one was deeper still, and while this may have been Jane's first time doing this, it was certainly having the desired effect.

"Oh God! Oh Honey!" Hannah exclaimed on the forth tongue-lashing. "Oh, my sweet little Jane! Yes! Yeesss!"

Hannah watched her daughter's face nodding beneath her, the sight of it alone doing as much work to stimulate her as Jane's tongue itself. She'd wanted this for so long. She'd only ever had this done to her once, when she was not much younger than Jane. Jane's father had never performed oral on her, and ever since marrying him the only other contact anybody else had made with it until tonight was that of her own fingers during lonely nights. But after years and years of neglect and resigning herself to the notion that she'd never have a beautiful woman pleasuring her like this again, it was finally happening. Not only that, but finally happening with a sexy, tender young nymph close to half her age. On top of that, happening with her own daughter. It was like a dream.

Hannah began toying with her own breasts, but after a while Jane's pace quickened and the attention being given was becoming too much. Hannah grasped onto the headboard of the bed to support herself, pressing her hips down onto Jane's mouth even more. Part of her had wanted to hold on for longer, but she needed release, and it was coming far quicker than it had for her in a long time. Somewhere in the pale darkness, between gasps, moans and calling of her daughter's name, Hannah reached her peak, and Jane suckled away at the juices she released. Hannah stroked Jane's cheek gently, still shaking a little as she dismounted from her daughter's face and slid down beside her on the bed.

"Oh, Honey," Hannah said, still taking deep breaths. "That was magical. Truly magical."

"I'm glad," Jane said. "I was just kind of winging it there."

"Well, you're a natural. I haven't felt that good in years. In fact, I'd go as far to say EVER!"

"I'm sure with a bit more practice I can make you feel even better," Jane noted, a sly smile on her juice-coated lips. "I trust there won't be any objections?"

"Of course not," Hannah said warmly, giving Jane a peck on the cheek, but her face darkened after that. "But... we'll have to be careful, Jane. We can't let anybody find out. We have to be discreet."

"Don't worry, Mom," Jane said. "I will. I'll be okay. We can make this work. I love you too much to screw this up."

"I love you too, Honey," Hannah said, hugging her daughter closely and kissing her forehead with tears running down her cheeks. "I love you too."

And only a few minutes later, both Shepard women fell asleep in each other's arms, neither of them sure at that moment where the future would take them and their newfound relationship.

February 14th, 2186 CE Normandy SR2

Jane gasped and shuddered in her bed, letting the orgasm she'd just given herself run its course as she came into her own palm. The memories of her first time with her mother had come flooding back to her, and so had a desire for sexual release, which she had to take care of herself.

But this was the first time in years she'd had her fingers pumping within her to the memories and thoughts of her mother. She thought she'd been over that, and she'd always gone to other places and other faces for the mental aspect of the stimulation. A cute girl she'd passed by, the latest piece of Hollywood T&A, an asari dancer, and then more lately Liara's beautiful visage. She had to admit to picturing Ashley, Miranda and Kasumi on several occasions. Her imagination had even tried to imagine what Tali could be like on a few occasions. Kelly Chambers wasn't a bad fantasy either, but Jane tried to limit that one since discovering the feisty redheaded yeoman might just reciprocate, and she didn't want to be too tempted to cheat on Liara.

Still, her mother hadn't entered her thoughts like that for a while, and that made Jane feel uneasy. Why couldn't she let that aspect of her life go and leave it behind? Why did it all happen today and not weeks, months or years ago? And why was that the best damn orgasm she'd had since her first melding with Liara on the way to Ilos over two years ago?

Jane sighed, sliding her fingers out of herself and deciding to clean herself up a bit before returning to bed. She had far too many other issues on her mind right now, and she didn't need to have resurfacing incestuous desires to add to them. A lot of cold showers from now on, or at the very least letting Liara enter her thoughts when the call needed to be answered.

Unfortunately for Jane Shepard, humanity's best and possibly the only Spectre who could stop The Reapers, the next new months of 2186 weren't going to be getting any easier. 


	6. 6: Short on Time

October 27th, 2186 CE Normandy SR2

Full on war had plagued the entire galaxy for well over a month now. The Reapers had invaded, just as Jane had suspected they would. Right when the Alliance brass was about to grill her over the destruction of the Bahak System earlier in the year, The Reapers hit Earth directly. Jane had barely escaped with her life, taking off in The Normandy with old friends and new ones. That was back in August, but things had moved at such a pace it felt like just a few days ago.

Mars had been the next stop, where she'd been reunited with Liara again, and she had been thankful for it. Not just because Liara was incredibly helpful to the point of almost being key to defeating The Reapers, but also because her presence gave Jane somebody to truly share her emotional pain lately. It still wasn't exactly clear what their relationship was right now, but Liara seemed keen to get involved with Jane again, despite being distracted with her work to help stop The Reapers.

As time went on, things seemed to get both easier and harder for Jane. They now had an idea of what they might need to do to defeat The Reapers, and Jane was gathering allies to fight the good fight every few days. She'd even brought back some old familiar faces, most notably Garrus, Dr. Chakwas, Engineer Adams and most recently, Tali. Wrex had joined her temporarily too, but left to continue helping his people after they'd cured the genophage. That in itself was another boon, as was the seemingly impossible task of Jane getting the quarians and Geth put their differences behind them and work together.

But there were downsides, of course, and none of them were small ones. Dr. Mordin Solus had sacrificed himself on Tuchanka just over a week ago, and the drell assassin Thane Krios had also made a similar noble gesture during an assassination attempt on the salarian councilor. Cerberus had invaded The Citadel recently, and with each passing moment The Reapers spread further and further throughout the galaxy, either killing its denizens or transforming them into horrific abominations. Reports from Earth got worse by the hour it seemed, and every time a transmission came in from Admiral Hackett, Jane worried that it was going to be to inform her of Anderson's death.

Her mentor, former commanding officer and friend was now her primary concern as far as individuals went. For a while it had been the fate of her mother that concerned her the most, because for weeks she hadn't heard a thing about Hannah Shepard or the SSV Orizaba. Her fears were put to rest though shortly after her time on the reclaimed quarian homeworld of Rannoch, when Admiral Hackett informed Jane that he had not only found Hannah, but also recruited her for the Crucible Project and promoted her to Rear Admiral. Jane wanted to speak to her mother directly, but knew they were both too busy to exchange pleasantries. That was about to change though.

Admiral Hackett had just sent through a new message: he wanted Jane to bring the Normandy to the near-complete Crucible, not because of Jane herself, but because he wanted some input from the prothean Javik, and some of the scientists also wanted to speak directly with Liara as well. Jane was concerned that it could delay the work they were doing, but Hackett assured her it would only take a few days, and certainly not a week or more. Jane agreed, and the Normandy SR2 sped to the secret location as fast as Joker and EDI could allow it.

Once the Normandy had docked with The Crucible, Jane had expected to see Admiral Hackett or some Alliance brass to be the one to greet her. What she didn't expect was a teary-eyed mother who didn't say a word before just running up to wrap her arms around Jane's neck. "Oh, thank God you're okay!" Hannah sighed with relief from over Jane's shoulder. "I feared the worst."

Javik, Liara and Garrus were just left dumbstruck, also clearly expecting something more formal. Javik in particular shook his wide head in his typical disapproving prothean fashion then looked to Liara as if expecting an explanation. Liara smiled warmly. "I take it prothean families weren't particularly affectionate?" she asked.

"There is a time for affection, asari," Javik replied coldly. "War is not that time. Especially when it is war with The Reapers."

"I find war is the best time for affection," Liara argued. "It reminds us of why we are fighting and who we are fighting for."

"We are fighting for survival. Nothing more!"

"Yes. But that survival extends to our loved ones too."

"So, this must be Liara," Hannah said, her attention being drawn away from her daughter briefly before she looked back to Jane. "I can see what you were talking about, Honey."

Jane was shocked at Hannah's reaction. Whenever she'd mentioned Liara to her mother in the past there'd been this sense of disapproval and dislike from Hannah. This time she sensed none of that. In fact, Hannah seemed very complimentary and, dare she say it, proud of Jane's choice of partner.

"Rear Admiral Shepard I presume then," Liara said with a polite bow of the head. "I've looked forward to finally meeting the mother of the woman I love."

"Don't be so formal, Miss T'Soni," Hannah said with a laugh. "Just call me 'Hannah.'"

Liara was about to respond, but another Alliance officer interrupted the group with two armed grunts in two. He saluted. "Excuse me. Doctor T'Soni? Mister Javik?"

"Yes," Liara answered, while Javik merely looked down what passed for his nose at the new arrivals silently.

"If you'll follow me I'll take you where you've been requested to meet the others."

Noticing the two Shepards, he saluted again with an apology that he hadn't noticed them. They returned the gesture, and the Alliance officer began leading the group away down the corridor, with the exception of Hannah and Jane who remained behind. Liara made a final comment about looking forward to catching up with the two of them again later before heading off to wherever they were going, leaving the Shepard woman standing alone in the docking chamber.

"I've missed you, Mom," Jane said sincerely to her mother as soon as the others left their sight. "I'm so glad we got a chance to catch up again."

"I made a point of it, Honey," Hannah revealed. "When I heard that they wanted the prothean that was on your ship to come here, I made sure they sent the Normandy itself and didn't just have you chuck him on a shuttle or something."

"Mom!" Jane exclaimed. "You can't just do that! I'm doing important work out there."

"Honey, calm down." Hannah soothed. "I know you are, but we are too. And Liara and your prothean's input here could be crucial."

"Let's not talk here," Jane said after a deep sigh. "Come on. We'll chat in my quarters."

Jane and Hannah proceeded to Jane's quarters, where the argument continued for about a minute. Both Shepards were stubborn, and in the end both ended up agreeing with each other, while also not outright approving of the other's point of view. Jane could see Hannah's reasoning, and Hannah could see Jane's. They just both thought the other one was wrong. But it wasn't until Jane discovered the real root of Hannah's reasoning that she felt bad for getting angry about it.

"Bringing me here wasn't that important, Mom," Jane said in a tone that was trying to be sympathetic. Instead, it just made Hannah cry, which in turn made Jane's heart sink. "Mom?"

"I'm sorry, Honey," Hannah said between sniffles. "You're right. In the grand scheme of things, bringing you here wasn't that important. But..."

Hannah sobbed a little more, and then looked over at Jane, who now was looking close to tears herself.

"Go on, Mom," Jane encouraged, placing one hand upon her mother's shoulder.

"But... but it was important for me," Hannah finished. "I had to see you again, Jane. With this war on, I just had to. Because... because I knew that we might never see each other again. And... and I couldn't bear that thought, Jane. I just couldn't."

Jane let her own tears flow then pulled her mother into a hug. "I'm sorry, Mom. I... I didn't know."

"It's okay, Honey," Jane said, followed by a long sniff. "I'm being selfish, I know. And I'm probably worrying too much. But I wanted us to at least have another few days together. In case they are our last." Hannah paused, then let out a semi-contented sigh. "You mean more to me than anything or anyone, Jane. I couldn't handle losing you without at least one or two more last happy memories with you."

"I'm glad you called me here, Mom," Jane said. "I'm sorry I got upset. I was being selfish too."

"No you weren't, honey," Hannah said with a sobbing chuckle. "You were thinking of the entirely galaxy over your own wants. If you had been selfish, there wouldn't have been an argument."

"You hear that, galaxy?" Jane called out around them. "Even the apparently great Commander Jane Shepard is taking advice from her Mommy after all these years."

Hannah chuckled and squeezed her daughter tightly. "Apparent nothing! You ARE great."

The two separated from each other's arms and Hannah stroked Jane's cheek softly. "I'm so proud of you, Honey. You truly did become humanity's best, just like you sought out to be from the start. Hell, nuts to humanity! You're the entire galaxy's best!"

"Now you're just looking at me through the rose-tinted glasses of a mother's eyes," Jane said as she rolled hers.

"I know it hasn't been easy for you," Hannah said more seriously as she patted Jane on the shoulder. "But you're strong. You always have been. That's why you're still here. Anybody else would have failed long ago."

"I didn't do it alone, Mom," Jane said matter-of-factly. "I couldn't have. I've had a lot of help, especially since this whole thing started on Eden Prime."

"I'm glad you've managed to make so many friends and allies, but don't sell yourself short. There's a reason they all follow you. I could see it even just from those few moments I spent with your friends in the docking port. For instance, that prothean didn't respect anybody else in there, but I could tell he respected you."

"He respects Liara too," Jane defended.

"If he does it's likely only because of her connection to you," Hannah said. "He likely knows you wouldn't choose an idiot for a mate."

"Mate?" Jane said, raising one eyebrow. "You speak like we're breeding stock, Mom!"

"I'm sorry, Honey," Hannah said genuinely. "I didn't mean it like that. She seems like a very intelligent, charismatic young woman."

"She's not that young, Mom," Jane corrected.

"Yes, of course. I keep forgetting that. In either case, if she's not too busy on The Crucible, the three of us should have dinner together tonight."

"Sounds good," Jane said. "I've been hoping to finally introduce her to you. The scheduling was just always a problem." Jane paused. "I'm glad the first impressions are good though. I wasn't sure you'd approve."

"Honey, as long as you're with somebody who makes you happy, of course I approve," Hannah said, and she took Jane's hands in hers. "I'm glad you are. You need somebody like Liara to be with in times like these. Somebody who can be with you and love you in your darkest days." There was a pause, and then Hannah's gaze drifted away for a moment and she added, "I just wish..."

Hannah let the sentence hang there, and Jane just gave her a look that said "wish what?" without words. Hannah saw this, then blinked away some tears and forced a smile.

"Nothing honey, don't worry about it," Hannah said.

"Out with it, Mom," Jane said firmly. "You said these could be some of our last moments together. I don't need any doubts or untold secrets from you now."

Hannah's bottom lip trembled slightly and no amount of blinking stopped the tears from flowing.

"I... I just wish that I'd found somebody like that too," Hannah admitted from the depths of her heart. "I wish there was somebody special to help get me through these dark times too."

Jane stared at her mother's reddened eyes for a while as silence hung in the air, then pulled her into a hug. "We'll get through this, Mom," she said. "We'll stop them."

"If it were anybody else saying that, I wouldn't believe them," Hannah said, returning the hug full-force. "But because it's you..."

The two Shepard women stood there for a while in each other's arms, before a call over the ships comms called for Hannah to return to The Crucible, and the elder of the two of them pulled herself away from her daughter.

"I'd better get going," Hannah said, taking out a handkerchief to dry her tears. "Duty calls and all that. If you can get that pretty asari doctor of yours to drag herself away from those Crucible scientists that meal in a few hours though, I'd appreciate it."

"Will do, Mom," Jane said with a warm smile. "See you then."

Hannah waved back to Jane, and then disappeared from sight behind the Normandy's elevator doors. This didn't stop her presence from still hanging in the air of Jane's quarters though, as the redheaded commander plonked down onto her bed with fresh thoughts swimming through her head. "Our last moments," she whispered softly, a single tear rolling down her cheek at the thought of it.

Liara returned to the Normandy about an hour and a half later, thrilled at the suggestion of dinner with the two Shepard women that evening. Jane contacted her mother and Hannah showed up, dressed rather formally in her dress uniform, while Jane had also done the same. Liara had chosen a nice dress, in fact it was the gossamer number Shepard had first seen her in when she visited her on the Normandy for the first time after becoming The Shadow Broker.

The three women spoke cheerfully as they ate, most of their casual banter involving Hannah's involvement with the Alliance since she'd last spoken with Shepard back in February. Hannah asked a lot of Liara during the meal too, specifically on how she and Jane had met and what she had done before that fateful day. Of course, Liara had to keep silent on a few details, especially her more recent role as The Shadow Broker, but Hannah seemed to understand, at least in the same vein that classified Alliance information was never to be spread. Jane was happy to see the two of them getting on well, and remaining fairly quiet throughout the experience. She was just enjoying being in the company of the two women she most loved in the universe. And yet, she couldn't help but feel a little uneasy too.

Eventually the trio's time together came to an end, well after the meal was finished. For the five or six hours that the three spent eating, chatting and laughing together, it was like the whole Reaper war had been put on hold. It was at the back of each of their minds so never forgotten, but that was enough to make it an enjoyable affair. There was a bit of a downer towards the end of it all, as Liara mentioned that both she and Javik would probably be done within the next 24 hours. They realized this was good news for the rest of the galaxy, but that it wasn't so good for Hannah and Jane. Liara could tell that they both only just felt they were starting to catch up again after so much time, and it tugged her heartstrings to know that they'd be parting again so soon.

Hannah left, giving both Jane and Liara pecks on the cheek and promising her daughter she'd find some time to catch up again the next day. Liara had stated that she'd be with the Crucible scientists again most of tomorrow from about 10am until they were done, so Jane suggested catching up with her mother then on the Normandy again. Once her mother had left, Jane and Liara cleaned up Jane's quarters and prepared for bed. Liara kept complimenting Jane on how charming she found Hannah, which elicited vague noises of agreement from Jane most of the time. Liara noticed that Jane seemed distracted by something though.

"I'm fine, Liara," Jane said. "Just thinking is all."

"You're worried that after tomorrow, you'll never see your mother again," Liara said plainly.

"That's part of it," Jane said with a labored sigh. "In a way I'm more concerned about her losing me. I've all she's got now."

"You should make the most of the time you have with her now then. You can't stop whatever fate has in store for the both of you, but you can spend time with her now," Liara said.

If only Liara knew. "Were you and Benezia close?" Shepard asked.

To Liara the question seemed completely out of the blue. The asari's brow furrowed and she thought for a few seconds before answering. "Not as much as I'd have liked. At least not, towards... the end. We were closer when I was younger, before I started out on my own hunting through prothean ruins. She taught me a lot then and I valued our time together. It wasn't until she died that I could really say I appreciated it though."

"Are asari mothers and daughters generally close?" Jane asked.

"It varies, like I guess it does with most species. Our mothers are often instrumental in raising us and teaching us what it means to be an asari, and we probably spend more time with them because of our life span than your species do. But some asari are extremely dependent once they hit the matron stage. Others, quite close, to the point of never moving too far from their mothers."

"What about joining?" Jane asked next, sounding rather awkward and somewhat reluctant.

"Huh?" Liara responded.

"Joining. Or melding. Do... do your mothers generally teach you that?"

Liara blinked at Shepard's question, then went quiet for a while. "Most of the time they do, yes. Sometimes if a child's mother is too busy though, they'll have a teacher do it instead. It's not something that's quite as natural as most biological factors in most species after all. It's something that must be controlled and honed, as well as regulated to a degree. Especially when we're young. The melding process can be powerful and even dangerous when not properly controlled."

"Does that..." Shepard cleared her throat. "Does that include the mating aspect of the meld? Or do you tend to discover that when it happens?"

Liara turned to Jane, raising one eyebrow at the question. A flush came to Jane's cheeks and she averted her gaze like a timid schoolgirl. "Sorry, I didn't mean for that to sound weird. I'm just curious."

"It's okay, Shepard," Liara said. "To answer your question, again, it varies. The joining is, after all, essentially the same process and function when it's used to mate as when it's not. It's just a lot deeper in the case of the former. It's rare for asari teachers to delve too deep with a student, since they don't need to in order to get that aspect across. The fundamentals are already present in the milder forms of the meld, and it's merely a mental switch that triggers the level and type of meld it is. It's kind of like teaching somebody to pilot something in a way. You can give them all the instructions and teach them to fly a ship without going over a certain speed, and they don't need you to take them to maximum speed in order to know they are capable of it."

"You said it varied though," Jane noted.

"Yes. Well... there are exceptions to this, like with most things," Liara admitted. "Some teachers on occasions have gotten too involved with their students, for one reason or another. Sometimes the teacher can be a predator, or sometimes the student will develop a crush on their teacher and things go further than they should. Sometimes it's largely innocent and two asari just end up connecting, even if one is by all considerations too young to become involved in such relationships, or at least with somebody so much older than them. Some students have issues with control, though if both of them realize this and have the will, they can pull out. As I said though, there are usually controls put in place to minimize such occurrences, so they're generally rare."

"Has this ever happened between direct relatives?" Jane asked.

"You mean between sisters or a mother and daughter?" Liara said reluctantly.

"Yeah," Shepard said quietly.

"There have been some... some instances of that," Liara said, sounding rather uncomfortable. "It's a very harsh taboo though, as you can probably imagine. Two asari mating is already considered by the majority of our species as detrimental to genetic diversity, so you can imagine what the addition of mating with members of one's own family would mean. Not that they would have to produce offspring from such a link of course. Family members can be very close though, and it's not uncommon for us to share our thoughts with our parents and siblings on a deeper level than with others. It wouldn't take much from either participant to push that little bit further, and if both of them come to love each other on a romantic level even slightly or even find each other attractive, they'd probably would find it hard to stop once they'd begun, even if it was wrong and both knew it."

"I see," Jane said, noticing she was feeling rather warm.

"Why are you asking me about this?" Liara queried. Jane jumped at the question.

"I was just curious, that's all," Jane defended weakly. "The topic of your mother came up, and you mentioned asari mothers usually taught their offspring what it meant to be an asari, so..."

"So... what?" Liara pressed, and then her eyes flared open with shock and she blushed. "Are you wondering whether my mother and I ever... ever got that..."

"Nonono!" Jane interrupted quickly. "That's not what I was meaning!"

Liara's shocked expression shifted and a strange smile came to her lips. This was something Jane wasn't expecting at all. She thought Liara would have called her sick and either left or asked her to leave, but instead Liara was almost smirking and blushing.

"You're perverse!" the asari said with shocked mirth before whomping Shepard with a pillow roughly, yet playfully. "I never thought you'd have such a dirty little fetish like that!"

Jane didn't know how to answer that, so just said "sorry" awkwardly. Until a few moments ago, that exact thought hadn't crossed her mind. At least not quite in the way Liara thought she meant it. Liara seemed flustered and too looked caught between emotions on the matter.

"I can tell you now, Jane Shepard, that while my mother and I may have been close, we were never quite THAT close!" Liara said, giving Jane another pillow to the face. "So your twisted little fantasy is only that... a fantasy. And you'll get no help from me with it."

Liara laughed again, still blushing as she shook her head and put her soft, fluffy weapon back behind her head. She lay back down and turned over, facing away from Jane.

"I love you," Jane said sheepishly after a few seconds of silence between them.

"Good night, Shepard," Liara said in a strangely whimsical-yet-firm manner, letting Shepard know that she wasn't that annoyed, but that talking was done with for the night.

Jane slid down further under the covers herself, thumping her head in feigned protest onto the pillow. She heard a titter from Liara. Sighing, she stared up at the stationary stars through the skylight above, and her thoughts drifted back to her past again. It was back to another series of key moments in her life, and in her and her mother's relationship: the moments that led to them putting an end to things. 


	7. 7: The N7 Program

March 6th, 2176 CE Shepard Family Home, Earth

It was just over two months into the year and already 21-year-old Jane Shepard had seen enough fighting to last her the rest of it. While taking shore leave on Elysium, the colony came under surprise attack from a group of pirates, mercenaries and other hired thugs. It turns out it was lucky Jane had been there, because she'd been the one to lead the resistance effort before the Alliance Navy could deal with the invading ships. Jane had come close to death more times during those hours of Elysium than she ever had been in her entire life beforehand, but her actions helped secure a victory for an event that had been dubbed "The Skyllian Blitz" almost as quickly as it had happened. Jane had also been awarded one of the Alliance's highest honors: The Star of Terra.

It was almost four years now since Jane had joined the Alliance Military, and as such the same amount of time since she and her mother had first made love and decided to be more than just mother and daughter. Both had done a good job of keeping their relationship a secret during that time, helped largely by the fact they rarely spent much time alone together. Hannah continued serving on the SSV Einstein while Jane had been training at the academy for most of the time, where her leadership potential had been immediately recognized. As such, Hannah and Jane only saw each other if both were on leave or during special occasions.

Since it was so rare, Hannah and Jane had cherished every moment they spent with each other. The main problem for the first eight months was Jane's father, with both Shepard women agreeing that he should never find out. Fortunately he rarely made it to family get-togethers anyway, but unfortunately the reason this no longer became an issue eight months into things was because he was accidentally killed in an Alliance operation.

Both Shepard women felt that if one ignored the fact they were mother and daughter and the need to hide it, they had a very healthy relationship as a whole. Both loved each other very deeply, and there was more depth to their relationship than just sex and the overall thrill both felt from the forbidden nature of it. For one thing, during the week following the death of Jane's father, the two were almost always together to support each other, but almost purely as a mother and daughter. Beyond that, the two would often talk about things and just enjoy spending time together for days at a time without more than hug or brief kiss between them quite easily, and both could share a bed without needing to get naked and writhe under the covers every time. And yet at the same time, when they did make love, it was always one of the mostly deeply satisfying experiences for both of them.

It had been a week now since The Skyllian Blitz, and Jane was on leave again. Her first lot had been interrupted by the incident of course, and the Alliance had decided to give her some more time off. It was the least they could have done considering she'd been the one who saved Elysium. But this time she was taking her leave on Earth, at the Shepard family home no less, and in honor of her daughter's accomplishments, Hannah Shepard had also been granted some time to spend with Jane. Hannah had already arrived almost a full day earlier than her daughter by the time Jane arrived, and she was looking forward to giving her daughter some more good news.

"Mom, I'm home!" Jane announced as she walked in the front door. "You here?"

Jane put down the case she was carrying and shrugged a bag off her shoulder, placing it beside the case. She was still wearing her fatigues and couldn't wait to change into something more casual. It had been a long trip to get back to Earth, and with her face all over the news it was hard to take more than two steps without somebody recognizing her. Walking further into the main living room, Jane finally heard a response just when she was beginning to think perhaps her mother was out.

"I'm in the bedroom, honey!" Hannah's voice called out. "Just give me a minute."

Jane acknowledged her mother and went into the kitchen to get a drink of water. Putting the pitcher back in the fridge, she noticed a box of chocolates wrapped in a red and white-striped ribbon with a card.

On the card it simply had Proud of you! Congratulations" along with her mother's name with hearts on either side. Hannah smiled warmly, slipping the card back under the ribbon again.

"Okay Jane!" Hannah's voice called out from behind the door. "Come on in here, honey!"

Jane cocked an eyebrow. Why was her mother asking her to go in there rather than just coming out to see her? Not wanting to over think things on what should be her first day of relaxation, Jane shrugged it off and approached the bedroom door. Opening it, the first thing she noticed was that it was pitch black inside, despite it not being that late. The curtains were pulled shut and Jane couldn't see much more than the vague shape of the bed ahead of her. Flicking on the light, Jane soon found out why.

"Surprise, honey!" Hannah called out.

Standing at the other end of the room stood Jane's mother, holding a bottle of wine in one hand and two tall glasses in the other. She had a large smile on her face, and for some reason was wearing her long, fluffy bathrobe that covered her from chin to toe.

"I should have known you'd do something like this," Jane said dryly. "I'm just surprised there were no balloons or streamers to go with it."

"What do you expect, honey?" Hannah said as she walked closer. "You're the Alliance's new hero, and humanity's savior. The best of the best."

"I just did what any good soldier should have done," Jane said as Hannah popped the cork and began to pour some wine. "Everybody is making too big of a deal out of it."

"Nonsense, Honey!" Hannah dismissed, handing Jane a half-glass of white bubbly. "Not every soldier could do what you did even if they tried to. Some would even say it was an impossible task. But you did it, and you deserve it."

Hannah put the bottle in an ice bucket on the nearby nightstand then raised her glass to her daughter. Taking the hint, Jane reluctantly tapped hers against it in response and the two drank. After Jane's was gone, she spoke again. "Even if you're right, the deed should be its own reward."

Hannah stopped drinking once the clich had been delivered, raising one eyebrow as a smirk came to her face. She swallowed the last of her wine then took Jane's glass from her, placing both on the nightstand with her eyes never leaving her daughter's face.

"You may eat those words soon, Honey," Hannah said slyly. "Especially since I have some news for you from Alliance H.Q. that the Star of Terra is just the tip of the iceberg."

"What do you mean?" Jane asked skeptically. Hannah giggled like a girl half her age, then began backing away from her daughter slowly while never taking her eyes off of her.

"Well, one of the Admirals was going to tell you, but you were already on your way here when it was decided, and so he thought that I might like to give you the news instead. So I decided that rather than just tell you, I'd be a bit more... creative."

Jane was about to ask for Hannah to explain more, but was left with her mouth hanging open as her mother tugged the belt of her robe and let the garment slide off her shoulders and onto the floor in two smooth motions. Jane was rendered speechless at the sight of Hannah standing before her in some very exotic lingerie, complete with frilly accoutrements, a garter belt attached to thigh-high stockings and even a little collar. It was mostly in a very dark, charcoal gray one could easily call black in poor lighting, with some of the straps and frills in red and white striped patterns. Portions of it were thin, almost transparent material and there was a hole in the center to reveal her mother's navel, while the cups accentuated Hannah's breasts and the cleavage dipped low.

As Jane was left standing there, Hannah slinked up to her speechless, ogling daughter, definitely proving that while she was going on 40, she had the body of a woman in her 20's still. Jane caught a glimpse of something rather noteworthy just before Hannah wrapped her arms around her and pulled their lips together to initiate a soft, sensual kiss. Slurping away from Jane, Hannah's next words confirmed what Jane suspected if the letter and number she'd seen written together on Hannah's collar hadn't.

"Congratulations, Jane. The Alliance wants you for the N7 program."

Whenever Jane was asked by anybody in an interview what it was like when she was asked to join the N7 program, Jane always gave the same answer: that it was one of the most memorable moments of her life. Of course, everybody who asked her didn't realize the true extent of what she meant by that.

"I'm... I'm in the N7 program?" Jane managed to ask, still flustered and with her eyes roaming over Hannah's body. Her mother laughed in a manner that seemed both sexy and devilish at the same time.

"Oh no, Honey," Hannah said teasingly, drawing invisible swirls on her daughter's chest with one finger. "Not yet you aren't. You've been given the offer, but you still have to pass three trials."

"Three trials?"

"Yessss," Hannah hissed. "You see, you still need to prove yourself worthy of being in N7 to a superior officer. And since I'm the only one here... that means me."

Before Jane could respond, Hannah darted towards her without warning, pinning her to the wall behind with a thud. Jane just yelped, staring widely into her mother's seductive eyes. Hannah licked her lips, taking in Jane's shocked reaction.

"To begin, I need to see how you handle pressure when your back is against the wall," Hannah told her, and she pressed her body up against Jane's even more. "And in case you were wondering, I'm Pressure. Because seeing you builds me up and you can always get a rise out of me."

Jane founds her entire mouth being covered by Hannah s, whose lips sucked onto her face like an octopus. At the same time, Hannah pressed her body into Jane even more, squeezing her against the wall. Jane had to breathe through her nose, but Hannah put a stop to that by reaching over with one hand and squeezing her nostrils shut. Jane felt the other hand begin to grasp one of her breasts, then gently massage it through her shirt. Jane now had no way of getting a supply of oxygen, and to make things worse, one of her mother's knees raised up between her legs to rub her there, and then pressed up further until she was lifted off of her feet and straddling it. Jane felt both good and bad, and didn't know how long she could take it. It was then her mother's words came back to her and made her realize what she had to do.

"I need to see how you handle pressure when your back is against the wall," Hannah had said, and then after that, "And in case you were wondering, I'm Pressure."

Hannah was holding her nose closed with one hand and massaging one of her breasts with the other, so Jane's arms were now free. All this time she had been just taking this, when she was supposed to be "handling Pressure" instead. Jane reached out with her hands and cupped Hannah's breasts in return, then began to rub her thumbs in circles around the tips, flicking Hannah's nipples through the nearly sheer fabric that barely covered them. Hannah gasped, removing her mouth from Jane's for just long enough to allow her daughter some air before she clamped her lips back on.

Jane kept feeling her mother's boobs, and then tried another retaliatory effort to deal with the pressure rising below. Using her feet against the wall to push herself up higher, she stopped her mother's bucking knee from rubbing against her nether regions, then clamped her own thighs down upon Hannah's and squeezed as hard as she could. Her mother began making noises of protest inside her mouth, eventually gasping to give more air to Jane, while also jerking her leg free from her daughter's vice-like grip.

Jane acted quickly, returning the gesture by raising her own right thigh up between Hannah's legs, eliciting another gasp and another chance for air. Releasing her mother's breasts, Jane grasped Hannah's hips firmly and pressed her mother's crotch down upon her raised knee, then began to drag her mother's entire lower half across her horizontal thigh. Hannah whimpered and gasped around and into Jane's mouth a few more times, but it wasn't long before she released the suction, giving into her daughter's valiant reversal of fortune. The two of them pressed their foreheads together, staring with wanton lust into each other's eyes as Hannah rode her daughter's leg. Hannah wanted to ride this all the way to climax, but it was too early yet. There were still two more tests after all.

Reluctantly, Hannah pulled herself off her daughter's wonderful thigh and regained her breath. Jane just stood and watched, still half-leaning against the wall and breathing a heavily with flushed cheeks. She must have got her mother fairly worked up already, since there was a damp line on her fatigues running from her right knee to halfway up her thigh. Hannah brushed some locks of mousy brown hair back behind one ear and smiled with a chuckle.

"Well, Honey. You certainly passed your first test. You handled Pressure very well indeed. Perhaps even..."

Hannah let the sentence hang as she reached down to run an index finger up between her legs. She raised the glistening finger before her daughter, taking a couple of steps forward and bringing it closer to Jane's face. Instinctively, Jane opened her mouth and extended her tongue. "...too well," Hannah finished as her daughter tasted her arousal.

"Two more tests," Jane said coyly. "How hard could they be?"

"Lie down and you'll find out," Hannah answered in sultry tones, taking Jane's arm and leading her closer to the bed.

Jane stood at the edge of the bed, just about to crawl onto it when she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder encourage her to turn around. Doing so rewarded her with a deep kiss from Hannah, and she felt her mother begin to remove her Alliance-issue shirt while they made out. The kiss was broken so it could be slipped over her head, revealing a plain white tank top beneath. As soon as the newly removed garment was tossed aside, Hannah prodded her daughter s chest firmly to push her backwards onto the bed. Jane just stared up at her mother, as Hannah took her left boot in her hands and began to remove it.

"Now it's time for your second test," Hannah explained. "For this little exercise, I need to find out how well you cope under fire."

Hannah slipped off Jane s left boot and began working on the right one. As soon as it joined its partner on the ground, she continued explaining. "And in similar vein to your previous test..."

Hannah left that sentence hanging too as she pulled herself between her daughter's legs and up over Jane's body, until her face was looking down onto Jane's. "...I'm Fire," she finished. "Because I'm in heat, you make me hot and I burn for you."

Hannah dipped her face down upon Jane's for another deep kiss, which lasted a couple of minutes before Hannah pulled away and began kissing her throat and upper chest, and then worked her way down even further. Much like their first time together, Jane's breasts were freed from the tank top and suckled upon, first one then the other, and it seemed every inch of her skin was being tended to by Hannah's lips.

Jane couldn't believe this was happening. At least not in the manner it was. Until now, whenever they'd made love it had always been a fairly straightforward affair. They'd never done anything like role-playing before, Hannah had never shown signs of such erotic imagination like this and she'd never been quite so dominating and kinky. As strange and new as it was though, Jane couldn't argue with the results. Hannah was tonguing her naval now and she was incredibly turned on. Her mother was already damn sexy in her eyes, but tonight she was a bewitching seductress on a whole new level. Hannah was Fire all right, and if "coping well under fire" meant holding off against what this woman was doing to her right now, Jane wasn't sure she could hold off much longer.

Jane felt Hannah's hand slip down the front of her trousers and two fingers beginning to rub her pussy gently. At this point the only thing Jane thought stopped it pushing her too far was the fact that there was still the cloth of her panties between the stroking fingertips and her sensitive folds, thin admittedly as said cloth might be. Jane gasped at each caress, looking up to see her mother's beautiful visage rocking gently mere inches above her own face. Hannah's eyes were half-lidded and filled with desire, her cheeks rosy with heat and her forehead beaded with sweat and plastered locks of hair. Jane realized that this was probably the closest thing to being pleasured by a deity. Hannah was as beautiful, as wise and as strong as any goddess of legend, and Jane was being made love to by her.

But this wasn't helping her pass this trial. In fact, it was just making her warmer and wetter. An old idiom came back to her as she thought about what her mother said about the second trial: you've got to fight fire with fire. With that in mind, Jane reached up with one hand and jammed it between her mother's legs suddenly. Hannah gasped, and Jane could feel her mother's slick, warm moistness through the thin material of the charcoal, N7-themed panties. Jane slid her three most prominent fingers across her mother's barely clad sex, the middle finger extending and pressing down ever so slightly not and then to run along the crease at the center. Hannah was audibly gasping above her, and Jane could already feel the hand between her own legs relenting somewhat. Jane reached up with her free left hand and loosened her mother's right shoulder strap, then bent down the cup containing Hannah's right breast, freeing the pink-capped mound. Jane leaned up, taking the tip between her lips and sucking at it, with the occasional nibble now and then.

Jane's head shifted between her mother's breasts, its attention now on a red and white striped bow at the nexus of Hannah's cleavage. Jane gently grasped one non-looped end of the bow in her teeth and leaned back, causing the bow to unravel and the crisscrossed line of lace running down Hannah's stomach to loosen. She let go and gave another ribbon cord of red and white a pull and the whole upper garment loosened as the cord unwound itself, the released pressure causing Hannah's left breast to ease itself free and pop over the top of the bodice. Jane eased the last of the garment off of her mother, leaving her completely topless now, save for the small collar still around her throat. Hannah smiled at her daughter with a mix of pride and lust then eased away before her daughter could push her too far. The older Shepard woman got back to her feet, standing at the foot of the bed and staring down Jane with a smirk on her face. She shivered as she watched Jane take the fingers that had been pleasuring her to her mouth and lick at them.

"Well done, honey," Hannah said, breathing a little heavily now. "You've only got one test to go. But it's the hardest one to pass."

Hannah leaned down over Jane, grasping her by the hips and sliding her further down the bed and closer to her. Hannah's fingers slipped under the outer edges of Jane's panties at her hips next, and she slid them slowly down and off her daughter's legs. Tossing them aside, she encouraged her daughter's thighs to part, pulled her a little closer to the foot of the bed, then knelt down between her thighs. She looked at Jane's glistening pink folds for a moment, biting her lower lip in anticipation, then gazed up to her daughter's flushed face.

"You final test is to survive a direct assault," Hannah explained. "You have to hold out for at least ten minutes against a direct attack. And your opponent is me. Because I want to get through your defenses, breach your bunker and overwhelm you."

Jane's eyes boggled at what was before her. She was already so worked up and her mother was going to orally pleasure her for ten minutes before she is allowed to climax. She already felt she was damn close to release before, and how this. Those ten minutes were going to seem like an eternity, assuming she could make it. Jane could think of only one thing to respond with. "Elysium is going to seem like a breeze compared to this."

Hannah's smirk only grew at the comment. "And I'm not going to go easy on you either," she said.

Jane expected her mother to dive right in after that, but much to her surprise Hannah didn't. Instead she pressed her face against Jane's right thigh and kissed it lightly, about halfway between her knee and her already dripping pussy. At first Jane was relieved, but then as Hannah worked her way closer and began to nibble, lick and kiss her inner thigh, Jane realized it wasn't. This was just getting her more and more worked up, and wanting direct contact more and more. This meant that she knew that once contact was finally made, her chances of resisting it were going to be hindered. Jane was beginning to wonder if she should be considering her mother a succubus now rather than a goddess.

Hannah spent the first minute on Jane's right thigh then moved to the left to tend to it for the next one. By this time Jane was almost begging for direct contact, even though she knew it would probably be the end of her. Jane knew that failing this test wouldn't really mean failing the N7 program admittance, but that didn't matter, and Hannah knew it all too well too. Both of them knew that Jane Shepard was never one to back down from a challenge and hated to lose and fail more than anything else. Jane was going to give it her all not because of what it was, but because it was a task to be overcome. Drive and success ran through her veins, and the ability to overcome seemingly impossible odds felt like her destiny somehow.

Two minutes in, the assault finally came. Hannah's tongue ran along Jane's sex a few times before it pressed e between them and into Jane slippery warmth. Jane bucked and gasped as her mother's tongue snaked around inside her, but she held back, as if almost trying to will her highly sensitive nerves and her clit not to respond to it and try to go numb. Jane clenched and resisted, despite the pleasure washing over her and everything from her lower stomach to her knees feeling like they were on fire. She resisted looking down, knowing that the sight of her mother face working away at her would turn her on even more. Her fingers gripped and tore at the quilt and bedclothes under her, and her thighs pressed in futile resistance into the mattress to try and pull away from the sensations. At moments she was literally on the edge, only her will stopping herself from giving in as the release was right there not even an inch or a thought away.

And then it stopped. The intensity subsided, and while the pleasure was still there, it waned to a gentle, pulsing hint. Jane opened her eyes and looked down her body, and there was her mother's smiling face, glistening from her eyes down with Jane's juices. The point was, it was no longer pressed between her legs, and Hannah wondered why.

"You made it, honey," Hannah said with immense pride in her voice. "I tried to overwhelm you, but... you made it."

Jane blinked in wide-eyed surprise for a few seconds, then just let out a loud groan as he head flopped backwards onto the bed. She lay there panting for a while, not even really sure how much time had passed in those apparent ten minutes. It felt closer to an hour to her. She heard her mother chuckle at the foot of the bed. "We're not done yet, honey," Hannah said.

This caused Jane's head to jerk up and face her mother. Except, she wasn't there. Jane's brow furrowed in confusion, until she saw Hannah emerge up from the foot of the bed again, with a wicked smile on her face. Rising up shortly after came a long, black object with a smooth tip. It took Jane a moment to realize that it was a dildo of some kind. Hannah laughed as she saw Jane's eyes go from the dildo to her, and the older Shepard woman brought it to her mouth and began to run her tongue along it. It began to shine as she coated it in saliva, and Jane finally spoke up. "I thought... I thought I'd passed all the tests?"

Hannah continued licking for a few moments, her smile growing at Jane's question. When it was fully coated, she lowered it to Jane's swollen pussy lips, making her daughter jump as the tip rested right upon the crease. Hannah left it resting there as she explained further.

"You have, honey," Hannah said proudly. "But there's still one final step to go."

Before Jane could ask, Hannah slid the dildo back along Jane's pussy lips until the tip was at the center of them, and then pressed it down and into her daughter. Jane reeled at the object entering her, gasping and throwing her head back. She looked back to her mother as Hannah let go of the other half of the sex toy, noticing now that it wasn't a handle on the other end, but another faux phallus. Hannah smiled at her with a wicked grin again before she began to lick the exposed, second head sticking out of Jane's vagina.

"Wh-what's that," Jane asked shakily as Hannah kept lubricating. Hannah ceased using her tongue, and instead brought her fingers to where Jane's pussy met the object within it. She began caressing around it, gathering Jane's wet arousal in her digits and then stroking them up the obsidian protrusion to continue the process that way. Jane couldn't help but fidget at her mother's work, as Hannah explained further.

"Well... you've passed all the tests, but you've still got to do what you set out to," Hannah said. "You still have to enter the N7 program."

Hannah finished coating the dildo and then stood up. Reaching down between her own legs, she parted her panties from her crotch to expose her own moist sex, and then crawled up onto the bed above Jane. Straddling her hips above her daughter's, she slowly lowered herself until her spreading folds were right above the vertical tip of the dildo, then pausing she looked at Jane with heavy-lidded eyes of lust and spoke.

"And, in case the collar and the trials haven't been a big clue... I'm the N7 program."

The two women's eyes met and locked at that moment and Hannah felt Jane's hands reach up and rest upon her hips. With the same half-lidded gaze of sexual want, Jane pressed her mother down so that her pussy impaled itself down upon the obsidian obstruction between them. Hannah moaned as the object entered her, and Jane began to buck her hips upwards into her mother. The object slid between both of them, causing mother and daughter to moan with pleasure. Hannah reached forward and slipped off her daughter's sweaty tank-tip, then brought their lips together in a passionate kiss as she fondled the younger girl's breasts. Jane's hands stayed upon her mother's hips, helping forced them down upon her with every reverse thrust she gave.

"I have to admit," Jane said between ragged breaths. "It feels good to be inside the N7 program. In fact, I hope I'm in here forever."

Hannah laughed then let out a low, primal moan. She shook her head at Jane, but smiled at the same time. "I'm not sure the N7 program could handle that!"

Jane laughed and pulled her mother down for another passionate kiss. Hannah eventually pulled away from her daughter and threw her upper-half back, where she began riding her daughter wildly. The sight of her mother writhing up and down upon her lap, her naked breasts bouncing about, drove Jane crazy. She reached up to palm Hannah's orbs as her mother rode her way to orgasm, and Jane herself was brought to climax only moments later. Hannah collapsed atop her daughter, both still inside each other and twitching with stabs of pleasure. Jane gently kissed her mother's throat as they lay there coated in sweat and their own liquid pleasure, and after a few moments, Hannah reached behind her neck and unclipped the collar there. Placing the N7 badge at the center of Jane's throat, she looped the collar around Jane's neck and clipped it into place. She kissed her daughter softly on the lips. "Congratulations, honey," she said.

Jane just smiled, and the two lay in each other's arms until the morning came. Little did they know that the next morning was the beginning of the end for their relationship.

Jane awoke in tangled sheets, discovering Hannah not beside her, and the dildo no longer in her. She took a shower and pulled on a clean robe to find Hannah in the kitchen, cooking breakfast. It looked and smelled like bacon and eggs, and Jane could already feel her mouth watering. Hannah laughed when she saw Jane and Jane wondered why until Hannah pointed at her throat: she was still wearing the N7 collar. She can't believe she'd missed that, having showered with it in a bathroom with not one but three mirrors.

"Sleep well?" Hannah asked.

"Almost as well as I didn't sleep just before hand," Jane said with a sly smirk. "I woke up a few times and we were still inside each other. I enjoyed just moving a little now and then as you slept on me, watching your beautiful, peaceful face as you slumbered."

Hannah blushed and she bit her lower lip. "I actually woke a few times too. I noticed the same thing. Except... I actually got off a couple more times, gently pressing against you. I tried not to wake you, you looked so peaceful."

"You're full of naughty surprises lately, Mom," Jane said, wrapping her arms around her mother and turning her away from the cooking to face her.

She was about to pull Hannah into a kiss, but Hannah's eyes widened and she stopped Jane with a single finger and sudden whisper of "wait!"

Jane was confused, until Hannah pointed behind them. The living room there had a large window, which was exposed to the front of the house. Normally some foliage and a large yard would stop anybody on the street beyond from looking in, but there was a group of people coming up the driveway, almost at the front door. They weren't looking in to see anything, but if their attention wasn't on getting to the entrance as quickly as possible, they could have. Jane and Hannah spotted a few items with the half a dozen people that pretty much gave away who and what they were.

"Reporters," Jane sighed.

The doorbell rang as soon as Jane had commented, and she reluctantly approached the door and answered it. Microphones and floating cameras were thrown in her face, as questions bombarded her about what happened on Elysium, and one reporter had somehow found out about the N7 admittance, which led to another barrage of questions. Eventually Jane managed to get the reporters to leave, but it was only the beginning.

Over the next week, Jane and Hannah found themselves being hounded by the press about Jane's recent accomplishments. They couldn't leave the house without being jumped on either on the way to their destination or at it. They'd come home to find reporters waiting, messages about interviews, some requests and some orders from the Alliance "requesting" that Jane go somewhere and say some things. Our of paranoia, Jane even got their house scanned and found a bug in their kitchen in a bouquet of flowers they had been sent. By week's end, Jane had come to a reluctant conclusion that broke her heart.

"We can't do this any more, Mom," Jane said, holding Hannah's hands in hers as they sat on the edge of their bed. "We can't be more than mother and daughter any more."

Hannah went pale, hugging her daughter closely. They had already agreed to keep things purely familial since that morning when the reporters first arrived. They thought that they'd need to lay low until things died down, and just act like a normal mother and daughter for a while, but Jane could already see that it wasn't enough.

"You're overreacting, honey," Hannah said, but even she sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than Jane. "We can work through this."

"No," Jane said, removing herself from her mother's embrace. "We can't. I'm too much of a celebrity now. Too much of a poster girl for the Alliance. I'm surrounded by vultures, and they won't go away. We were lucky to make it this far, but both our careers would be ruined if they found out now. And if we continue this, they will find out, you know they will."

Hannah squeezed tears from her eyes as Jane squeezed her hands. She nodded reluctantly and regretfully. "I know," she sobbed. "I know."

"I love you, Mom," Jane said, which now felt like a chill to Hannah's heart when before it warmed it. "But we have to let go of each other. At least in that way. We have to let go and move on." She paused. "And we can't look back."

Hannah just nodded, and Jane felt tears come to her eyes too. She placed a gentle kiss on Hannah's forehead, and then stroked some loose hair behind her mother's ear. "We can do this. We are strong. We are Hannah and Jane Shepard."

Hannah nodded at her daughter's words, and Jane gave her a stern not, then stood up. Hannah tried to hold Jane's hand for as long as she could, but distance eventually defeated her. Jane stood in the doorway and paused as Hannah looked on, feeling helpless.

"I'm going to my... my own room, mother," Jane said, and she turned to her mother with shiny eyes and almost whispered the last words before departing. "Good night."

And with that her daughter left their bedroom. No, it was now simply her bedroom. Hannah tried to be strong and suck it up, but alone in the dim light of her bed lamp, instead she just collapsed to her bed and cried herself to sleep. 


	8. 8: Dawn Returns Before the Dusk

October 28th, 2186 CE Normandy SR2

Jane Shepard paced back and forth nervously at the foot of her bed, her high-heeled shoes clicking loudly with each step. It usually took a fair amount to rattle Jane as she strode around her room adorned in her favorite dress; the black one Kasumi had gifted her after she'd hired her on for the mission against The Collectors. Of course, the thief had given her the articles of clothing not just as a gift, but also to help with infiltrating Donovan Hock's party on Bekenstein. Thinking back to those moments of her past, Jane realized she was less nervous as Allison Gunn than she was now.

It was coming up on 10.30am, and Liara was off with the scientists again. She said she wasn't sure when she'd be back, but she figured it would at least be a few hours. Jane had made a decision the previous night after much soul-searching and weighing up of things, meaning she hadn't got much sleep. She felt bad about going behind Liara's back, because she did love her and she didn't want to hurt her. But she also had feelings and emotions that went far deeper, and so little time to act on them. It had to be now, or they'd be gone again, most likely to never return. Jane couldn't deny her feelings any more, and couldn't leave here without closure. More accurately, she couldn't leave her without closure.

A chime stopped Jane in her tracks, her head darting to face the door before she became as a statue for a few moments. It wasn't until long after the sound had completely faded before Jane brought herself to speak. "Come in," she called, sounding more confident than she felt.

The door slid aside and in walked her mother, dressed in her Alliance blues with a warm smile upon her face. Jane had told her to wear "something nice" meaning something not quite as formal as a uniform, but it came as no surprise to her that Hannah had gone with the status quo. It took Hannah a moment to see what her daughter was wearing, and her eyebrows rose noticeably as she did before her gaze dropped down to Jane's shoes and gradually appraised the whole ensemble. Hannah's smile grew a little.

"Looking good, honey," Hannah said. "I'd say you were dressed to kill, but for you that's probably when you're wearing armor instead." She paused. "What's the occasion?"

"Us," Jane said straightforwardly, stepping closer. She indicated the table and seats between her bed and model ship collection. "Please, take a seat."

Hannah looked to where her daughter had motioned and noticed two tall classes and a bottle of wine. She didn't notice it was the same brand and year the two of them had shared when Jane had joined the N7 program. Looking back to Jane, Hannah's smile broadened again and she nodded before taking a seat. Jane followed her, picking up a glass and the bottle of wine. Removing the cork with a jerk of her head after biting down upon it, she began to pour Hannah a glass.

"This is lovely, honey," Hannah said, letting out a relaxing sigh. "When you told me to wear something nice I should have known you didn't just mean my uniform. Not that I have much in the way of nice formal wear that isn't uniform. Still, I'm glad we at least have these moments together before you leave to fight those awful Reapers again."

"That's why I'm doing this," Jane said, handing Hannah her wine. "I was thinking about what you were saying yesterday. About these possibly being our final moments together."

Hannah sipped at her wine as Jane poured her own glass, then swallowed and spoke. "I hope you're not going morbid on me, honey. As I recall, yesterday you seemed fairly confident you could succeed, despite the odds." A pause. "And I believed you."

"I have to be realistic," Jane said, placing the bottle on the table again and sitting down adjacent to Hannah. "I'd like to think victory is a sure-thing, but it's not. And I don't want this to end with any regrets and unresolved issues if things don't go our way." She took a mouthful of wine and swallowed it. "There's been a lot on my mind lately, especially after what you said yesterday."

"What do you mean, honey?" Hannah asked with a twisted brow, hesitating her next sip.

"Well, like you said... these could be our last moments together," Jane said, and her gaze moved from her glass to her mother's eyes. "I think we should make them count."

Hannah tried to read her daughter's eyes to see what she meant. She had the strong feeling that Jane was trying to tell her something, but she wasn't sure exactly what it was. She was about to ask for more clarification, but she noticed Jane's mouth move to speak. Words didn't come instantly as Jane's eyes returned to her wine as she mulled over how to begin her next sentence.

"And... and I also thought about what you said about having somebody there for you in these dark moments," Jane said. "How you said it was important, and that Liara and I had each other." Jane paused before her eyes flicked back to her mother. "And... how you didn't."

Hannah's eyebrows rose as she drank and she slowly lowered her glass. Jane shifted closer and placed a hand on her mother's knee and looked into her eyes deeply.

"I... I just want you to know that I'm here for you, Mom," Jane said. "I can be that person."

Hannah smiled warmly; reaching up to cup Jane's chin and lightly stroke her cheek.

"Oh, honey," Hannah said with deep affection. "Of course you are. You always have been, and I know that."

Jane shook her head a little, her gaze downcast. Her mother didn't understand.

"No, Mom. I used to be there for you in the past. But not lately."

"You had your career," Hannah said. "I didn't expect you to literally always be there for me. But I knew you were always there in spirit, and if I really needed you I knew I could find you."

"You don't understand, Mom," Jane said with a sigh as she placed her glass on the table. "I'm not talking about being there for you as a daughter. I'm talking about being there for you like Liara and I are now. Like we once were."

Jane reached over and took Hannah's wine, placing it on the table too. Edging closer still and turning her whole body towards her, she took her mother's hands in hers and gazed deeply into her surprised eyes.

"I love you, Mother," Jane said. "I love you more than anybody. For all these years I never stopped loving you in that way. All I did was suppress it and push it deep down, but it never left me. I realize now it was my biggest mistake and my greatest regret. I've done a lot of things in order to succeed, be it against Saren's Geth, the Collectors, the Reapers or anything else. Things I'm not proud of, because the ends justified the means. I had to do them to stop whatever evil needed to be stopped. But I don't regret them anywhere as much as I regret turning my back on you, on us, all those years ago."

Hannah was left stunned for a moment at Jane's confession, and it took her a few moments to collect her thoughts and for it all to sink in.

"Do you... realize what you're saying, honey?" Hannah said.

"Yes," Jane said adamantly. "I do."

"Honey, I..." Hannah started, and she bit her bottom lip. "Honey, we can't."

"Why not?" Jane asked.

"Because that's behind us," Hannah said. "And it's wrong, you know it is."

"Why?" Jane asked, squeezing her mother's hands. "Why is it wrong for us to love each other that way? Because society says so? We're not harming anybody with our love. It's not like we're going to create inbred children. What's wrong with it?"

"There's Liara for one," Hannah said. "What about her? You can't cheat on her with your own mother."

"If we get through this, I'll tell her," Jane said. "I swear to you I will. But I loved you before I loved her. My feelings for you are deeper and stronger. If anything, I've cheated on you by seeing her. I shouldn't have got involved with her when I wasn't really over you."

"I still couldn't, honey," Hannah said, tears forming in her eyes. "If it got out it would ruin you. It would ruin both of us." A pause. "That's why we stopped in the first place, remember?"

"I don't care," Jane said, reaching up to stroke Hannah's cheek. "I love you. I really, deeply love you. And if the rest of the universe is willing to ostracize me for loving you after I've saved their asses from the Reapers, then it's not a galaxy worth saving anyway."

Hannah looked into Jane's eyes, searching them. Jane's returned gaze was so intent it was if it was exposing itself fully to her. "You really mean it, don't you?" Hannah eventually said quietly. Her mouth sounded dry the way she spoke.

"More than anything," Jane nodded with finality. "Remember when we last met in February, and just before I left the Orizaba you told me that you'd always be there for me, as a mother or... more if I wanted to?"

Hannah nodded slowly and Jane squeezed her hands a little tighter in response. "I want you now," Jane said. "And I want to be there for you now too. As mother and daughter, but also as something more." She paused. "Like we were before."

Jane reached out and cradled her mother's chin again, shifting closer still. "And I can see that you want it too... don't you?"

Hannah stared not only into her daughter's eyes, but into Jane's soul as she slowly nodded in response. Jane smiled at this, a warm, caring smile filled with love. In her eyes though Hannah saw something else: a hunger and desire that she hadn't seen for over ten years now. Jane's face slowly filled her vision and Hannah leaned in slowly, closing her eyes. She felt Jane's nose gentle tickle along the edge of her own and her daughter's warm breath upon her lips before their mouths met. Jane pressed her lips firmly to Hannah's, and then eased her tongue between both pairs to meet with that of her mother's. Hannah let out a moan that was beyond mere satisfaction, as if she'd been holding onto it for that whole decade since they last kissed. For almost five minutes the two Shepard women just sat before each other and explored each other's mouths, running their hands through each other's hair and stroking the other's face. When it ended, Hannah opened her eyes and saw that same look in Jane's eyes and a contented smile upon her face.

As she looked at Jane, Hannah still felt uneasy about the whole situation, but older and more primal feelings were coming back. Memories of their most intimate times together rushed back, along with the sensations of them being the best times of her life. Kissing Jane was like taking a drug again that you had once been addicted to and had to give up. Everything about the moment was calling to Hannah to give in, from the tingle she felt in her lips, to her rapidly beating heart and the gaze on her beautiful daughter's face. Fighting against this was like fighting a losing battle she really didn't want to win anyway. Hannah wasn't even sure this was real. For all she knew it could be a dream and she may never have woken up that morning. But it was too vivid and real to be a dream.

Jane trailed her hand from Hannah's face and down her mother's arm, then began to stand up. Turning to walk away, she gently tugged on her mother's hand as her own reached it, before sliding her fingers free as she slowly walked towards the foot of her bed. With a sultry, come-hither glance over her shoulder, Jane stopped before her bed with her back to Hannah before reaching up to unclip the dress at the silver clasp just below her throat. The fastener loosened, and Jane's eased the top portion from the dress from her shoulders to expose her bare back to Hannah, the elder Shepard found herself going from aroused to sadness in a split second.

"Oh, honey!" Hannah exclaimed as she rose to her feet and approached Jane with wide, wet eyes. "What happened?"

Jane knew her mother was referring to the scars that now lined her back of varying depths. There weren't too many of them, but when they had last been together Jane's back had been flawlessly smooth. Jane made a noise of regret as Hannah examined them more closely.

"The price I've paid over the years I suppose," Jane admitted. "The big angular one came from a krogan that charged me on Virmire. The almost dead-vertical dark one from a piece of Sovereign's shrapnel on The Citadel after it exploded." Jane paused. "Sorry I'm not as attractive as I was before."

Hannah didn't answer verbally for a while to that, but Jane felt her mother's finger make contact and slowly trace along the largest scar. It was a light tickling sensation, but it also sent a shiver down her spine. She felt Hannah draw closer before a kiss pecked her right shoulder.

"No," Hannah said. "Don't apologize for these." Jane felt Hannah's arms wrap around her waist and her mother press into her. "They are a testament to what you've done for the galaxy and what a hero you are. They're not blemishes of shame, but badges of honor."

Jane turned to look at her mother's face peeking over her shoulder. Hannah's smile was pained yet proud as she gently encouraged Jane to face her with a single index finger to the cheek. "You are no less attractive or beautiful for having them. Not to me."

Jane managed to smile back and Hannah kissed her on the lips softly. When Jane opened her eyes, she saw the look in her mother's had shifted from reassuring pride to hunger. She felt Hannah's fingers slip under the edge of her dress and slide it further from her torso, and then her mother's face disappeared from sight. As the dress descended down her body, Hannah followed suit, and Jane felt the warm wet sensation of her mother's tongue as it pressed against the summit of the dark vertical scar she'd mentioned and slide its way down. Jane let out a contented moan, and no sooner had her breasts been freed from the dress before they were covered again, this time by Hannah's palms. Hannah squeezed Jane's globes together and upwards, gently squeezing the two pink nubs at their peak and rolling them between her fingers.

"You don't know how much I've missed this," Hannah breathed into Jane's ear from over her shoulder. Her voice sounded almost insane, as if their decade apart had nearly driven her to madness, while also being thick with lust. "I've hungered for this for so long. For you. I always wished you'd come back to me."

"You did?" Jane said with a gasp and Hannah nodded and suckled at her neck for a moment before running her tongue up to Jane's ear.

"For years you haunted my dreams," Hannah responded. "Always there, always beautiful and loving. But always out of reach, and never really mine."

"I'm sorry," Jane said in a concoction of arousal and apology, eyes watering while she reached back to stroke Hannah's hair. "I wish it had been different. I wish we could have stayed like that."

"I do too," Hannah said, kissing Jane's shoulder. "But it's best not to regret it all. If we'd been caught, we'd have been shamed like you said." A nibble on Jane's ear. "You'd have never put on the path you had been to become who you are. There'd have been no Eden Prime. No Saren. No Reapers." Another kiss on the neck. "We'd have been utterly unprepared."

Jane slipped out of her mother's grasp, twirling around to face her. Her dress hanging from her hips, her breasts rubbing up against the material covering her mother's ones, Jane placed her hands upon Hannah's shoulders and looked her mother in the eyes. "And now?" she asked.

Hannah stroked some hair away from Jane's face and smiled lovingly. "And now?" she repeated. "Now, you're already a savior. Now, the Reapers are already here. Now, you're our last, best hope for peace."

Hannah took Jane's face between her hands and pulled it closer to her own. "Like you said... if the rest of the universe is willing to ostracize you for having a sexual relationship with your own mother after you've saved them from the Reapers, then it's their problem and they're not worth it."

Hannah pulled Jane's lips to her own to instigate a passionate kiss, which Jane returned in kind. She pressed her whole body to her mother's, raising her left leg up to hook it onto Hannah's right hip. Jane's fingers clumsily tried to work at top of her mother's uniform to undo it, but it wasn't easy with their bodies so tightly squeezed together and with her vision filled with Hannah's face as their mouths tangled. She managed to make do though, and once the top half of Hannah's dress uniform was loosened, Jane could slip it from her mother's shoulders and let it drop to the ground. Hannah then eased her daughter backwards slowly until the back of Shepard's legs made contact with the foot of the bed behind her and the younger Shepard fell backwards onto it.

Jane looked up at Hannah with anticipation as the Admiral stopped tending to her for a moment in order to slip her standard Alliance issue undershirt up and over her head and then reach around and unclasp her plain white bra. It dropped to the floor at Hannah's toes, while her breasts bobbed free for Jane to behold. Jane bit her lip at the sight of them, a vertical twitch of her eyebrows as she managed to tear her eyes from them and look at Hannah's face.

"Are you sure you're fifty, Mom?" Jane asked in a tone of seductive mockery. "Because I've seen models half your age that aren't that firm."

"I've made a point of keeping fit," Hannah said, striking a pose with one hand on a stuck-out hip. "In a few moments, I'll show you just how fit your mother is."

"I can already see how fit you are," Jane said smoothly. "I hope it extends to stamina as well."

"Oh, it does, my darling daughter," Hannah purred, leaning down to slide her fingers into the dress at Jane's hips. "I'll prove it to you."

"Think you can still go the distance with me?" Jane challenged as the dress began sliding down her legs, leaving her only in a pair of black lace panties above her knees. Hannah smiled back as she pulled the dress from her daughter's feet, causing Jane's high-heeled shoes to clatter to the ground at the foot of the bed.

"I could go until six in the morning," Hannah boasted, and she began to crawl up Jane's body like a predator.

"But it's not even eleven in the morning now," Jane countered with ever-increasing heavy breaths. Hannah smiled down at her daughter; her face right above Jane's when she next spoke.

"Nineteen hours?" Hannah said. "I'm sure I can do that. Being with you, I certainly have the incentive to try."

Jane gasped as she felt Hannah's hand jam itself down the front of her panties without warning, two of her mother's fingers pressing against her well-lubricated slit.

"Not sure you'll make it in this state though," Hannah teased, and she began to rub. "You're already so worked up."

Jane groaned, wrapping her thighs around her mother's rear and pulling her closer. She mashed her lips into Hannah's for a wet, sloppy kiss.

"I guess it's been too long since I felt a mother's touch," Jane said with lust. "Please be gentle with me."

"Don't worry, my sweet, beautiful Jane," Hannah said, cheeks bright pink and eyes half-lidded. "Mommy knows how to treat her special girl."

Time became meaningless to mother and daughter on the bed in Jane Shepard's quarters as hot, sweaty passion engulfed the two of them. Almost every inch of flesh on one of them was explored by the other, be it fingers, tongue, nipples or the slick wetness between their thighs. Beads of sweat covered their skin, matted, greasy hair plastered their faces and necks and primal moans and utterances of passion, lust and love echoed about the room. It was the most carnal, sensual and emotional expression and act the two had ever experienced together, as if they were trying to make up for the decade they had spent apart. For almost two hours they made love non-stop without realizing it before they had an unexpected visitor enter the room.

"By the Goddess!"

Neither Shepard noticed when she entered, or heard the gasp at the sight of them. Liara T'Soni had almost dropped the datapad in her hand at the display before her, as both Shepard's devoured each other's pussies hungrily in the half-lit room. The asari scientist didn't know how to feel as emotions ran through her, especially when she couldn't quite make out who was between her Shepard's legs given the angle. She felt anger, betrayal, sadness, wonder, shock, curiosity and confusion simultaneously, and didn't know which emotion to prioritize. But amongst those feelings, deep down, as much as she wanted to deny it, she also felt some degree of arousal at the sight of Shepard engaging in such a shameless act of raw sexual activity.

Liara just watched for a moment, finally deciding to let curiosity take lead of her emotional barrage. She had to know who it was first, but she didn't want to interrupt the two of them until she had. Whoever it was was human and female, but that didn't narrow things down much. Focusing on the obscured head between Shepard's thighs, Liara paid close attention to what features she could make out. It wasn't Ashley, the hair was too short. Also, as far as she could tell, Ashley wasn't into women. Shepard's new Yeoman was however, Samantha Traynor. The pretty young Comm Specialist had also made it clear she was interested in Shepard, even once trying to tempt Jane into joining her in a shower. Shepard had declined and set Samantha straight though, so why would she cheat with her now? Closer examination also revealed that whoever it was was too light in both skin and hair color to be Traynor.

Liara's managed to draw her eyes towards the floor, where she spotted the articles of clothing at the foot of the bed. Something caught her eye there: a uniform. An Alliance military uniform. Edging slightly closer, Liara managed to make out something that made her gasp upon the shoulder of the discarded garment. Shock and realization hit her, but so did an inch of doubt. After all, it couldn't be what she thought. It couldn't be.

"By the Goddess," Liara whispered. "It's..."

As if to confirm her suspicions, Liara's eyes shifted back to the writhing bodies on the bed just as the former mystery woman threw her head backwards with a loud groan of pleasure, then arched her back up until she was almost completely vertical, sitting on Jane's face. For a few seconds Hannah bobbed up and down to the rhythm of Jane's tongue working at her sex, groaning out her daughter's name with approval, but she soon opened her eyes and they meet with Liara's across the room. Both pairs were as large as saucers, neither saying anything as they stared at each other in shock like statues. Completely oblivious, Jane continued working her magic tongue on her mother's nether regions, reaching up with her hands now to grasp at Hannah's breasts and toy with them.

Liara's emotions were in a tumble once again at what was happening, and she could see a mix of emotions on Hannah's face as well. She could see not only the shock, but also the sadness and the sympathy. Liara could also see the empathy Hannah had for her and the love she had for Jane. She thought back to what Jane had said to her, how she felt about her mother and the questions she'd asked her the previous night. For some reason beyond her, as it all jostled around in her mind, Liara found the more negative emotions fading away. It didn't seem right or logical, none of it did, but gradually she found herself looking on and understanding it all.

Hannah looked back at Liara the whole time, watching the asari's expression change, and not acting until she could gauge how to deal with this. Liara leaned casually against the edge of the model ship display case, her head propped on an angle against it as she looked at the two Shepard's sideways for a moment, curiosity and deep thought playing upon her facial features. Her cheeks became flushed and she absent-mindedly curled a finger into her collar to loosen it slightly with one hand, while the other ran up her thigh. Liara's gaze became direct, as if to draw Hannah's attention, then drifted down to Jane's exposed vagina and back to Hannah's face. It was like Liara was silently telling her to continue, which was the last thing Hannah expected. The older Shepard began to descend back down between Jane s thighs, pausing in the middle while her gaze never left the watching asari. Liara gave a small, expressionless nod, so Hannah continued to dip her head to her daughter's slick center. After a few laps at Jane's slippery folds, her eyes darted up to look at Liara again, and she saw a small smile on the asari's purple lips. Liara watched for a few moments more, then slowly and quietly turned around, running her right hand down the side of the display case before quietly leaving the room. 


	9. Epilogue: The Sun Shall Rise Again

The lovemaking in Shepard's quarters continued for another twenty minutes after Liara had left before Shepard's vision managed to clear enough to notice the clock at her bedside. She gasped, flipping over her mother and disengaging from her in a frenzy.

"What's wrong, honey?" Hannah asked, lying on her back with her breasts poking skywards.

"We've been going at it for hours," Jane said, looking for her civvies. "Liara could be back any moment. You need to get dressed too."

Jane abandoned the search for her own clothes and tossed Hannah hers. Hannah blushed without saying anything and began to get dressed. When she only had her jacket to go, she finally said something.

"Normally you're supposed to take orders from me y'know," she quipped.

"Yeah, well... when there's Reapers about, it changes things," Jane said, spraying herself with a can of deodorant to mask the smell of sweat and sex clinging to her. "I'm the authority then." She tossed Hannah the can. "You'd better use this too."

"Yes ma'am," Hannah joked as she took the suggestion, while Jane tried her best to comb her sweat-matted hair.

"Maybe I should just take a shower to be on the safe side," Jane groaned. Her hair didn't seem to be cooperating.

"Honey, you're feeling guilty about this, aren't you?" Hannah asked. "I mean, because of Liara."

Jane stopped failing with her hair and turned to Hannah slowly. Her mother tried to give her a reassuring smile.

"I do," Jane admitted with a shake of her head. "I really love Liara. I didn't want to betray her like this." She paused and looked up to Hannah. "I'm going to have to tell her, aren't I?"

"Yes, you are," Hannah said flatly. "But, I'm sure that if you explain it in the right manner, and are completely honest with her, she'll understand."

"I'm not so sure about that," Jane said, scoffing at the motion. "It's not an easy thing for anybody to accept, let alone for somebody who is supposed to be my girlfriend!"

"Just give her the benefit of the doubt," Hannah comforted, one hand placed on Jane's shoulder. "She's an intelligent, kind and understanding woman. You might be surprised."

"I think I'll try to get this Reaper thing sorted out first," Jane sighed, followed by a chuckle. "Fighting the Reapers seems like a breeze compared to that!"

Almost on cue, Shepard's omni-tool bleeped and Shepard answered it. After a hesitation, Liara's voice came through the speaker.

"Shepard. I'm just calling to tell you that I'm finished with the scientists and on my way up." A pause. "Is everything all good?"

The last question was awkward, and Hannah picked up on it as she listened in, but it went right over Jane's head. "Yeah, everything's all good, Liara. We'll leave once you're back aboard the Normandy."

"Are you sure?" Liara said. "Don't you want to spend some more time with... your mother?"

Hannah noticed the hesitation at the end, but, once again, Jane didn't pick up on anything. Her eyes drifted to her mother.

"I would, but... there's work to be done," Jane answered reluctantly. "We've had a good time together. Made up for a lot of lost time."

"Okay," Liara responded. "I'll be there soon."

The message ended and Hannah hugged Jane firmly. "Come here, honey, she said, stroking her daughter's hair. "I'm going to miss you."

"Me too, Mom," Jane said. "I love you so much."

"I love you too. I always will. As a mother, as a lover and as something more special than both those things."

"As soon as the Reapers are defeated, I'm going to find you," Jane said with conviction. "Once they're gone, nothing will stop me from getting to you."

"I'll be waiting," Hannah said. "I'd say 'make me proud' but you did that years ago, and have never stopped."

As they hugged again, the main door slid open and both Shepard's turned to see Liara walk in. She smiled at the loving embrace and nodded at each of them in turn.

"I'm glad you haven't left yet, Admir-" Liara started, and then corrected herself. "Hannah. I was hoping to get a chance to say goodbye before you left."

"I'm glad," Hannah said with a nod. "It was a pleasure to finally meet you, Miss T'Soni."

"Liara," the asari corrected. "And the feeling is mutual." She turned to the younger Shepard. "Mine if I see your mother back to the Crucible, Shepard?"

"She couldn't be in better hands," Jane said, and she kissed her mother on the cheek. "Bye, Mom."

"Bye, honey," Hannah said. "Good luck."

Hannah walked up to Liara and the two of them disappeared from Jane's sight as the door slid closed behind them. Entering the elevator with Hannah, Liara set the elevator in motion to take them down. It barely moved though before Hannah's arm darted out and stopped it again. Without saying a thing, Liara simply looked across to Hannah, whose head was hung low. Liara gave the Admiral a moment to collect herself, wanting Hannah to say whatever she wanted to say.

"I'm sorry, Liara," Hannah said with a shake of her head. "I know that's not enough, but... I needed to say it."

"I understand," Liara said stoically. "At least, I understand the apology. I must admit, I did not know that human mothers and daughters were so close."

"We aren't," Hannah said. "I mean, we're usually not. We're not supposed to be." She sighed. "It would be as much a shock to any human that walked in on us like you did. Perhaps even more of one."

"I see," Liara said. "I believe Shepard was trying to tell me something about this last night, but she was having difficulty expressing it. I believe she was afraid of hurting me."

"She was," Hannah said. "She loves you, despite the fact she loves me too. She didn't want you to not understand and didn't want you betray you or feel that she cheated on you. I didn't want to either. I tried to stop this from happening again, but... there is a depth to this you don't understand. Our feelings for each other are strong. Especially after so much time apart."

"I understand," Liara said. "Not fully admittedly, but I get what you're saying. I could see it there, when you two were together."

Liara looked at the human directly and paused to let it sink in. Hannah couldn't help but blush, but Liara didn't look hurt or angry.

"I realize that I can't replace you or compete with your for Shepard's affections in that manner," Liara said. "You and Jane share something very strong. I could see it in your eyes, in your passion. Thinking about Shepard, in hindsight I can see it in hers."

"I'm sorry, Liara," Hannah said genuinely. "I never meant to come between you like this. You don't deserve that."

"I still love Shepard," Liara said. "Much like you do. I'm sure, when the time is right, she will tell me about this. Between us, we will work things out."

"Are you sure?" Hannah asked. "It can't be an easy thing to deal with for you. To stay with Shepard until you've discussed it all despite what happened?"

Liara turned towards Hannah and smiled, shaking her head. "I don't think you understand," she said.

"Understand what?"

Liara took a step towards Hannah, encouraging her to face her with a gentle guiding of her shoulder. Hannah felt her cheeks flush as Liara placed a hand under her chin and gently stroked her cheek with a thumb. She could feel Liara's breasts press gently against her own.

"That when I said that we'll work things out between us, I wasn't just talking about just between Shepard and myself."

Hannah's vision filled with blue and she found herself frozen as soft violet lips pressed against her own. She felt a tongue glide between her teeth and was soon in the middle of a deep, passionate kiss. It only lasted a few seconds, but was very telling and pleasant. Liara pulled away with a soft slurp, a trial of saliva breaking between them as she stepped back, a playful smirk on her lips and a seductive glare in her eyes.

"I believe you humans have a saying," Liara said before Hannah could get a word out. "If you can't beat them, join them."

"Well," Hannah managed to say after a moment to collect herself. "That's certainly some incentive to survive this Reaper invasion."

Liara smiled then activated the elevator again, not saying another word until it reached their destination. She walked Hannah to the exit doors then gave her a strong hug.

"Goodbye, Hannah," she said. "Perhaps when this is all over, I shall call you 'mother' as well."

"I'd be honored to call you my daughter too, Liara" Hannah said. "And treat you as I would her."

Liara smiled and nodded as the two disengaged from each other's arms, a hint of a blush coming to her cheeks. With that, Hannah Shepard left the Normandy, and left Liara with a few thoughts of her own. Perhaps she should talk with Shepard sooner rather than later. After all, it might give her an even greater reason to fight the Reapers. If that isn't motivation, Liara didn't know what would be. 


End file.

Mass Effect, Romance, Sci-Fi